Industrial Ecology and its application to Sustainable Production and Consumption

1. Industrial Ecology and its application to Sustainable Production and Consumption University of Warwick, 19th November 2009 Professor Roland Clift Centre for Environmental Strategy University of Surrey President of the International Society for Industrial Ecology

2. 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.

3. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

4. Industrial Ecology is an area of applied research which brings together: • Engineering • Science • Economics • Behavioural Sciences • etc..etc.

5. THE HUMAN ECONOMY

6. EXAMPLE OF AN ECO-INDUSTRIAL PARK The Kalundborg “Eco-Park”

7. “METABOLISED”USE OF A MATERIAL

8. INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY FOR PLASTICS

9. ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEM ANALYSIS

10. ACCOUNTING METHODOLOGY FOR EACH MATERIAL STOCK IN MFA

11. 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).

12. STOCKS AND FLOWS (2): Removal from Addition to Material Stock Stock Stock If stock >> flow x reference time interval then addition and removal flows may not be equal

13. MATERIAL FLOWS WITH RECOVERY AND RECYCLING

14. SUPPLY CHAIN FOR IRON AND STEEL IN THE UK

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

22. LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT

23. LCA and EIA

24. FOREGROUND SYSTEM: Set of processes whose selection or mode of operation is 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.

25. PRIMARY BACKGROUND RESOURCES SYSTEM MATERIALS SOLID AND ENERGY WASTE FOREGROUND RECOVERED SYSTEM MATERIALS AND ENERGY WASTE MANAGEMENT FUNCTONAL FUNCTIONAL EMISSIONS OUTPUT: OUTPUTS MANAGEMENT OF WASTE

26. 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 burdens TOTAL INVENTORY is then: DIRECT BURDENS from Foreground plus INDIRECT BURDENS from Background, due to inputs to Foreground minus AVOIDED BURDENS from Background displaced by outputs from Foreground

27. WEEE • 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?

28. “The WEEE man”

29. POLICY RESPONSE: LONG TERM • Move to sustainable materials and energy • Pressure from: • - Legislation /fiscal measures • - Customers • - Scarcity(?)

30. POLICY RESPONSE: SHORT/MED TERM • (Extended) Producer Responsibility • Initially concentrating on waste management • Integrated Product Policy • Will cover whole life cycle including ‘use’ phase

31. 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)

32. 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

33. End-of-life management of a manufacturedproduct Undifferentiated Use scrap User Manufacturer Service Used hardware Refurbishment Assembly & upgrading Waste Components Disassembly Manufacturer Supplier Scrap material Alternative Materials Component Materials production manufacture Material uses Feedstock

34. Must globalisation of trade mean globalisation of waste? Should others suffer from the excrescences of our consumption?

35. Stylized representation of the distinction between “absolute” and “relative” decoupling Source: UNEP Decoupling assessment report (Zero draft, 19 May 2009)

36. FIRST USE Manufacturing Distribution Use Material and Energy Extraction Waste Management EARTH

37. A COMMON ECO-METRIC Environmental impact Economic value or price e.g. GWP (CO2 equiv) per € of added value or (consumer) spending

38. Definition of added value Ancillary materials Energy Material PROCESS Material outputs inputs ADDED VALUE = Sales price of outputs – costs of (inputs + ancillaries + energy) NB: Not labour or capital; hence “return to capital” in some economics texts

39. 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]

40. FIRST SCAN OF BUSINESS AREAS

41. ACCUMULATION OF ECONOMIC VALUE AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ALONG THE SUPPLY CHAIN – MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT 4 3 2 1 0 1: Resource extraction 2: Processing & Refining 3: Manufacturing 4: Retail and distribution ADDED VALUE or CONTRIBUTION TO GDP

42. FIRST USE VS. RECOVERY AND RECYCLING 1: Resource extraction 2. Processing & Refining 3: Manufacturing 4: Retail and distribution 5: Recovery 6: Dismantling 7: Remanufacturing

43. CO2 emissions allocated to high level functional uses for an average UK household (2004) Commuting, 9% Communications, 1% Space heating, 15% Education, 2% Household, 12% Recreation & Leisure, 26% Food & catering, 15% Health & Hygiene, 8% Clothing & footwear, 11% Reference Druckman, 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).

44. 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…

45. Gucci is good for the earth and Angels wear Prada

46. And the devil shops at IKEA

47. WHEREAS OTHERS MAKE DO WITH THE CAST-OFFS

48. AND THAT APPLIES NOT JUST TO CLOTHES…

49. A Sustainable Retirement?

50. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT