314
Managing fl ows of hazardous substances, recyclable materials, and energy use
throughout the life-cycle of products and considering entire industrial supply chains
with the aim of reducing their environmental impact are administratively and logistically complex. Producers often do not have complete knowledge or direct control
of complex supply chains and cannot always accurately predict the future outcomes
of technology development. Environmental managers must fi nd new ways to address
gaps in understanding and implement procedures to ensure producers can comply
with this new wave of product-based environmental legislation, and ultimately to
solve and prevent environmental problems at source.
There appears to be very little corresponding information or knowledge of contemporary approaches to environmental management in the available literature, and
furthermore, students may miss out if further education only equips them with
knowledge to understand and assess the implications from a life-cycle or sustainability perspective. For example, imagine a surgeon only taught how to diagnose
heart disease, but not how to conduct heart surgery. From a policy perspective, lessons from practical experience reinforce the need for harmonised product-based
requirements including applicable standards, product categorisation, reporting, and
proof of compliance. For industrial ecology to move forwards, the practical challenges and approaches, the administrative procedures, and the management methods required to solve environmental problems at various stages of a product’s
lifecycle are surely worth further consideration.
Acknowledgements The author would like to thank Dr. Joachim Zietlow, and Reid Lifset for
their assistance.
Open Access This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
Noncommercial License, which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in
any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
References
BBC, British Broadcasting Corporation. (2014). Ten days left to vacuum up a powerful cleaner .
Retrieved February 25, 2015, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-28878432
E3, Equipment Energy Effi ciency. (2015a). Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) .
Retrieved February 25, 2015, from http://www.energyrating.gov.au/about/other-programs/
meps
E3, Equipment Energy Effi ciency. (2015b). Voluntary measures for reducing standby power in
appliances and equipment . Retrieved February 25, 2015, from http://www.energyrating.gov.
au/wp-content/uploads/Energy_Rating_Documents/Library/Standby_Power/Standby_
Power/2002sbpres6-harrington.pdf
Energy Conservation Centre Japan. (2015). Final reports on the top runner target product standards . Tokyo, Japan. Retrieved February 25, 2015, from http://www.eccj.or.jp/top_runner
European Commission. (2015). RAPEX – Weekly notifi cation reports . Brussels, Belgium. Retrieved
February 25, 2015, from http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/safety/rapex/alerts/main/index.
cfm?event=main.listNotifi cations
K. Mayers
Managing fl ows of hazardous substances, recyclable materials, and energy use
throughout the life-cycle of products and considering entire industrial supply chains
with the aim of reducing their environmental impact are administratively and logistically complex. Producers often do not have complete knowledge or direct control
of complex supply chains and cannot always accurately predict the future outcomes
of technology development. Environmental managers must fi nd new ways to address
gaps in understanding and implement procedures to ensure producers can comply
with this new wave of product-based environmental legislation, and ultimately to
solve and prevent environmental problems at source.
There appears to be very little corresponding information or knowledge of contemporary approaches to environmental management in the available literature, and
furthermore, students may miss out if further education only equips them with
knowledge to understand and assess the implications from a life-cycle or sustainability perspective. For example, imagine a surgeon only taught how to diagnose
heart disease, but not how to conduct heart surgery. From a policy perspective, lessons from practical experience reinforce the need for harmonised product-based
requirements including applicable standards, product categorisation, reporting, and
proof of compliance. For industrial ecology to move forwards, the practical challenges and approaches, the administrative procedures, and the management methods required to solve environmental problems at various stages of a product’s
lifecycle are surely worth further consideration.
Acknowledgements The author would like to thank Dr. Joachim Zietlow, and Reid Lifset for
their assistance.
Open Access This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
Noncommercial License, which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in
any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
References
BBC, British Broadcasting Corporation. (2014). Ten days left to vacuum up a powerful cleaner .
Retrieved February 25, 2015, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-28878432
E3, Equipment Energy Effi ciency. (2015a). Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) .
Retrieved February 25, 2015, from http://www.energyrating.gov.au/about/other-programs/
meps
E3, Equipment Energy Effi ciency. (2015b). Voluntary measures for reducing standby power in
appliances and equipment . Retrieved February 25, 2015, from http://www.energyrating.gov.
au/wp-content/uploads/Energy_Rating_Documents/Library/Standby_Power/Standby_
Power/2002sbpres6-harrington.pdf
Energy Conservation Centre Japan. (2015). Final reports on the top runner target product standards . Tokyo, Japan. Retrieved February 25, 2015, from http://www.eccj.or.jp/top_runner
European Commission. (2015). RAPEX – Weekly notifi cation reports . Brussels, Belgium. Retrieved
February 25, 2015, from http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/safety/rapex/alerts/main/index.
cfm?event=main.listNotifi cations
K. Mayers