xi
Introd uction
The Industrial Ecology Paradigm
The earliest use of the term ‘industrial ecology’, if not the fi rst application of the
concept, is generally agreed to be in the seminal paper by Frosch and Gallopoulos
(1989), as quoted in several chapters in this book:
The traditional model of industrial activity… should be transformed into a more integrated
model: an industrial ecosystem. In such a system the consumption of energy and materials
is optimized, waste generation is minimised, and the effl uents of one process…serve as the
raw material for another.
The International Society for Industrial Ecology has adopted the defi nition of
industrial ecology coined by White (1994). White’s defi nition, while building on the
ideas of Frosch and Gallopoulos, introduces the role of the consumer and stresses
the importance of the wider socio-economic arena:
the study of the fl ows of materials and energy in industrial and consumer activities, of the
effects of these fl ows on the environment, and of the infl uences of economic, political, regulatory and social factors on the fl ow, use and transformation of resources (White 1994).
A later defi nition by Allenby (2006: 33) defi nes industrial ecology as
a systems-based, multidisciplinary discourse that seeks to understand emergent behaviour
of complex integrated human/natural systems.
This defi nition highlights that industrial ecology takes a whole systems approach
and also that it involves many disciplines – not just the technical, economic and
environmental fi elds but also fi elds such as sociology and philosophy, ethical philosophy in particular.
The term industrial ecology draws an analogy between industrial systems and
natural ecosystems and is founded upon the suggestion that understanding and
applying what can be learnt from natural systems will help us design more sustainable industrial systems (Graedel and Allenby 1995; Ehrenfeld 1997). Whether natural ecosystems are really a helpful model for industrial ecology and whether the
term ‘industrial metabolism’ would be more appropriate have been much discussed.
Introd uction
The Industrial Ecology Paradigm
The earliest use of the term ‘industrial ecology’, if not the fi rst application of the
concept, is generally agreed to be in the seminal paper by Frosch and Gallopoulos
(1989), as quoted in several chapters in this book:
The traditional model of industrial activity… should be transformed into a more integrated
model: an industrial ecosystem. In such a system the consumption of energy and materials
is optimized, waste generation is minimised, and the effl uents of one process…serve as the
raw material for another.
The International Society for Industrial Ecology has adopted the defi nition of
industrial ecology coined by White (1994). White’s defi nition, while building on the
ideas of Frosch and Gallopoulos, introduces the role of the consumer and stresses
the importance of the wider socio-economic arena:
the study of the fl ows of materials and energy in industrial and consumer activities, of the
effects of these fl ows on the environment, and of the infl uences of economic, political, regulatory and social factors on the fl ow, use and transformation of resources (White 1994).
A later defi nition by Allenby (2006: 33) defi nes industrial ecology as
a systems-based, multidisciplinary discourse that seeks to understand emergent behaviour
of complex integrated human/natural systems.
This defi nition highlights that industrial ecology takes a whole systems approach
and also that it involves many disciplines – not just the technical, economic and
environmental fi elds but also fi elds such as sociology and philosophy, ethical philosophy in particular.
The term industrial ecology draws an analogy between industrial systems and
natural ecosystems and is founded upon the suggestion that understanding and
applying what can be learnt from natural systems will help us design more sustainable industrial systems (Graedel and Allenby 1995; Ehrenfeld 1997). Whether natural ecosystems are really a helpful model for industrial ecology and whether the
term ‘industrial metabolism’ would be more appropriate have been much discussed.