industrial ecology
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The Four Laws of Ecology
(Barry Commoner, 1971, 33-48)
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The equivalent of Commoner's "laws" for sustainability in industry are:
Eco-Industrial Principles and Industrial Ecology
Eco-Industrial Principles and Industrial Ecology
- Industry is an interrelated system of extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal.
- Industrial production must be subject to "life-cycle analysis" so as to identify materials pathways (Industrial Metabolism)
- The natural world is a source of models of efficiency and of renewable energy and resources.
- 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).