Emergence of Industrial Ecology

Introducing the concept of an industrial ecosystem to integrate processes, products and wastes

The emergence of industrial ecology came largely in 1989 when an article appeared in Scientific American by Robert Frosch and Nicholas Gallopoulos, as follows: [2]

‘… the traditional model of industrial activity – in which individual manufacturing processes take in raw material and generate products to be sold and wastes to be disposed of – should be transformed into a more integrated model: an industrial ecosystem.’

Frosch and Gallopolous further observed:

‘Corporate and public attitudes must change to favor the ecosystem approach, and government regulations must become more flexible so as not to unduly hinder recycling and other strategies for waste minimization.’

[2] Frosh RA, and Gallopoulos NE. Strategies for Manufacturing. Scientific American 1989. http://www.is4ie.org/resources/Documents/Strategies_For_
Manufacturing_Sci_American_1989.pdf