industrial ecology

The Four Laws of Ecology
(Barry Commoner, 1971, 33-48)

1. Everything is connected to everything else.
2. Everything must go somewhere.
3. Nature knows best.
4. There is no such thing as a free lunch.

The equivalent of Commoner's "laws" for sustainability in industry are:
Eco-Industrial Principles and Industrial Ecology

1. Industry is an interrelated system of extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal.
2. Industrial production must be subject to "life-cycle analysis" so as to identify materials pathways (Industrial Metabolism)
3. The natural world is a source of models of efficiency and of renewable energy and resources.
4. ​Finite resources must be returned, recycled, reclaimed and/or reused in order to close materials cycles and minimize energy consumption. ("Technical nutrients" according to William McDonough).