Industrial ecology: a panacea for environmental degradation

Abstract

Resource demand and environmental degradation have reached unsustainable levels. A sustainable future requires industrial systems’ attention and improvement. Industrial ecology springs from interests to integrate the notions of sustainability into environmental and economic systems (Allenby 1992). The fact is that the economy operates as an open system, drawing raw materials from the environment and returning vast amounts of unused by-products in the form of pollution and waste. The products that firms market are only a small portion of what their processes turn out; a significant portion of their output eventually leaves the economy as waste and returns to the environment in forms that may stress it unacceptably. (Ehrenfeld & Gertler, 1997). Increased economic output will still cause increased environmental harm. Thus, accomplishing economic growth and environmental protection simultaneously requires fundamentally new ways of examining and designing socioeconomic systems. One way to achieve this is through industrial ecology When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/31070