industrial ecology and its application to sustainable production and consumption

Prof Roland Clift, Centre for Environmental Strategy (CES)

Industrial Ecology and its application to Sustainable Production and ConsumptionUniversity of Warwick, 19th November 2009

Professor Roland Clift

Centre for Environmental Strategy

University of Surrey

President of the International Society for Industrial Ecology


Industrial ecology asks us to understand how the industrial system works, how it is regulated, and its interaction with the biosphere; then, on the basis of what we know about ecosystems, to determine how it could be restructured to make it compatible with the way natural ecosystems function.


SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT


Industrial Ecology is an area of applied research which brings together:

• Engineering• Science• Economics• Behavioural Sciences• etc..etc.


E

E E

SUN SUN

WASTE

HUMAN SOCIETY

AGRICULTURE INDUSTRY

DISPERSED EMISSIONS

NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCES

E EMISSIONS TO AIR AND WATER

FOODetc.

GOODS&

SERVICES

THE HUMAN ECONOMY


EXAMPLE OF AN ECO-INDUSTRIAL PARK

The Kalundborg “Eco-Park”

STATOIL

REFINERY

ASNAES POWER

STATION

NOVO

NORDISK

HEAT

HEAT

GAS

GYPSUM

HEAT

FLY ASH

WATER COOLING

WATER STEAM WASTE WATER GAS

WATER

WATER

SLUDGE

GREENHOUSES

KEMIRA

DISTRICT HEATING

GYPROC LAKE TISSØ

FISH

FARMING

FERTILIZER

CEMENT;

ROADS

STEAM


WASTE

USE 3etc.

Re-useWASTE

USE 3etc.

Re-processCascade

Re-use

Recycle

RESOURCE

USE 1

Process

Manufacture 1

Extract

Manufacture 2

USE 2 Re-process

Re-process

“METABOLISED”USE OF A MATERIAL


Resource

Extraction &Processing Polymerisation Blending &

Forming Use

Disposal

Fuel

Energy Recovery

Chemical Recycling & Pyrolysis

Depolymerisation

Mechanical Recycling

Re-Use

INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY FOR PLASTICS


ENVIRONMENTALINTERVENTIONS

ECONOMICSYSTEM

ENVIRONMENT

SERVICES

MATERIALS ANDENERGY

EMISSIONS AND WASTES

ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEM ANALYSIS


ACCOUNTING METHODOLOGY FOR EACH MATERIAL STOCK IN MFA


STOCKS AND FLOWS (1):

A flow variable is one that has a time dimension or flows over time (like the flow through a stream).

A stock variable is one that measures a quantity at a point in time (like the water in a lake).

Income is a flow: wealth is a stock.

(adapted from “Economics” by Samuelson and Nordhaus).


STOCKS AND FLOWS (2):

Material Stock

Removal from

StockStock

Addition to

If stock >> flow x reference time interval

then addition and removal flows

may not be equal


Upstreammaterial stock

downstreammaterial stockProcess Process

Recyling*

Reuse**

Disposal

Stock

Export Import

UK Border

(1) (1)(1) (1)

(2) (2)

(3) (3)

reverse flowsforward flows

Re-covery#(3)

(3)

The focal material/product

Scrapexport

Scrapimport

(3) (3)

MATERIAL FLOWS WITH RECOVERY AND RECYCLING


SUPPLY CHAIN FOR IRON AND STEEL IN THE UK


DISAGGREGATED SYSTEM: FABRICATION, GOODS IN USE, PROMPT SCRAP AND END-OF-LIFE SCRAP


UK PRODUCTION OF IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY PRODUCTS (Geyer et al., 2007)


CONSUMPTION OF IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY PRODUCTS BY UK FABRICATORS AND MANUFACTURERS (Geyer et al., 2007)


IRON AND STEEL CONTAINED IN ALL NEW FINAL GOODS PRODUCED BY UK MANUFACTURERS (Geyer et al., 2007)


IRON AND STEEL IN FINISHED GOODS GOING INTO USE IN THE UK BETWEEN 1975 AND 2000


MODELLED ARISINGS OF END-OF-LIFE SCRAP AND ACTUAL RECOVERY (YEAR 2001)


ALUMINIUM IN FINISHED GOODS GOING INTO USE IN THE UK BETWEEN 1978 AND 2001


RECYCLE

RAWMATERIALS

ENERGYCONVERSION

EXTRACTION

MATERIALPURIFICATION

MANUFACTURINGPROCESS

USE

DISPOSAL ORRECYCLING

MW

W

M

M

W

M

W

M

M

W

E

E

E

E

M

EW

1

2

LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT


D

CHOICE OFTECHNOLOGY

C3

2

1

1 2 3

B

A

UnspecifiedCHOICE OF

SITE

LCA and EIA


FOREGROUND SYSTEM:Set of processes whose selection or mode of operationis affected directly by decisions based on the study.

BACKGROUND SYSTEM:All other processes which interact directly with the foreground system, usually by supplying material or energy to the foreground or receiving material energy from it. A sufficient (but not necessary) condition for a process or group of processes to be in the background is that the exchange with the foreground takes place through a homogeneous market.


BACKGROUNDSYSTEM

PRIMARYRESOURCES

MATERIALSAND ENERGY SOLID

WASTE

FOREGROUNDSYSTEM

WASTEMANAGEMENT

EMISSIONS

RECOVEREDMATERIALS

AND ENERGY

FUNCTIONALOUTPUTS

FUNCTONALOUTPUT:

MANAGEMENTOF WASTE


ASSUME - other products from Foreground are used in Background

- other Functional Outputs from Background unchanged

THEREFORE - other products from Foreground displace activities in Background and so

avoid some burdensTOTAL INVENTORY is then:

DIRECT BURDENS from ForegroundplusINDIRECT BURDENS from Background,

due to inputs to ForegroundminusAVOIDED BURDENS from Background

displaced by outputs from Foreground


• 2 million tonnes per annum (UK)

• Target to recycle 4kg/head/year (across EU)

• In UK producers pay according to their current market share in a collective scheme

• Recycle what? (How?) / Reuse?

WEEE


“The WEEE man”


POLICY RESPONSE: LONG TERM

Move to sustainable materials and energy

• Pressure from:

- Legislation /fiscal measures

- Customers

- Scarcity(?)


POLICY RESPONSE: SHORT/MED TERM

•(Extended) Producer Responsibility

-Initially concentrating on waste management

•Integrated Product Policy

-Will cover whole life cycle including ‘use’ phase


EXTENDED PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY (EPR)

• ‘an environmental policy approach in which a producer’s responsibility for a product is extended to the post consumer stage of the product’s life cycle.’ (OECD)


WHAT EPR AIMS TO DO…

• Increase reuse and recycling to reduce waste to landfill

• Effect up-stream actions to combat down-stream problems

• Make producers financially responsible for ‘their’ waste

Components

Use

Refurbishment& upgrading

Assembly

Disassembly

Materialsproduction

Undifferentiated

scrapUser

Usedhardware

Manufacturer Service

Waste

AlternativeMaterials

Material uses

Scrap material

Feedstock

ManufacturerSupplier

Componentmanufacture

End-of-life management of a manufactured product


Must globalisation of trade mean globalisation of waste?

Should others suffer from the excrescences of our

consumption?


Stylized representation of the distinction between “absolute” and “relative” decoupling

Source: UNEP Decoupling assessment report (Zero draft, 19 May 2009)


FIRST USE

Material and Energy

Extraction

Waste Management

Manufacturing Distribution Use

EARTH


A COMMON ECO-METRIC

Environmental impact

Economic value or price

e.g. GWP (CO2 equiv) per € of added value or (consumer) spending


PROCESS

Ancillary materials

Energy

MaterialMaterial

inputsoutputs

ADDED VALUE = Sales price of outputs – costs of (inputs + ancillaries + energy)

NB: Not labour or capital; hence

“return to capital” in some economics texts

Definition of added value


OVERALL BUSINESS IMPACT ASSESSMENT

- Unilever and CES; reciprocal advocated by Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and World Business

Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)

Normalisation for Analysis of Supply Chain or Business: (Øij)

[Contribution to Impact Category/Added Value]

[Total Human Impact/Global Economic Activity]


1.0

6 5 4 3 2 1

IMPACT NORMALIZED BY ECONOMIC VALUE

IMPACT of BUSINESS AREA or PRODUCT

FIRST SCAN OF BUSINESS AREAS


ACCUMULATION OF ECONOMIC VALUE AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ALONG THE SUPPLY CHAIN – MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS

1: Resource extraction2: Processing & Refining3: Manufacturing4: Retail and distribution

ENVIRONMENTALIMPACT

4

2

1

0ADDED VALUE or

CONTRIBUTION TOGDP

3


FIRST USE VS. RECOVERY AND RECYCLING

ENVIRONMENTALIMPACT

A4

2

1

0

5

6

ADDED VALUE orCONTRIBUTION TO

GDP

7

3

B

1: Resource extraction2. Processing & Refining3: Manufacturing4: Retail and distribution5: Recovery6: Dismantling7: Remanufacturing


CO2 emissions allocated to high level functional uses for an average UK household (2004)

Space heating, 15%

Household, 12%

Food & catering, 15%

Clothing & footwear, 11%Health & Hygiene, 8%

Recreation & Leisure, 26%

Education, 2%Communications, 1%

Commuting, 9%

ReferenceDruckman, A. and T. Jackson (2009). “The carbon footprint of UK households 1990-2004: a socio-economically disaggregated, quasi-multiregional input-output model.” Ecological Economics (in press).


Where does this point?A redefinition of quality or luxury…

EQUITY includes:

– Equity along the supply chain– Equity of access to “environmental services” between

affluent and poor

This requires consumption in affluent societies to have low environmental impact per dollar spent and to provide social and economic benefits along the supply chain:

The “Fair Trade” principle and beyond…


Gucci is good for the earthandAngels wear Prada


And the devil shops at IKEA


WHEREAS OTHERS MAKE DO WITH THE CAST-OFFS


AND THAT APPLIES NOT JUST TO CLOTHES…


A Sustainable Retirement?


SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

industrial ecology and its application to sustainable production and consumption

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