Managing a Material World: Perspectives in Industrial Ecology An edited collection of papers based upon the International Conference on the Occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the Institute for Environmental Studies of the Free University Amsterdam, The N PDF
Preview Managing a Material World: Perspectives in Industrial Ecology An edited collection of papers based upon the International Conference on the Occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the Institute for Environmental Studies of the Free University Amsterdam, The N
MANAGING A MATERIAL WORLD ENVIRONMENT & POLICY VOLUME 13 The titles published in this series are listed at the end of this volume. Managing a Material World Perspectives in Industrial Ecology An edited collection of papers based upon the International Conference on the Occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the Institute for Environmental Studies of the Free University Amsterdam, The Netherlands Edited by Pier Vellinga Institute for Environmental Studies, Free University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Frans Berkhout Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK and Joyeeta Gupta Institute for Environmental Studies, Free University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands w SPRINGER SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V. A CLP. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN 978-0-7923-5206-8 ISBN 978-94-011-5125-2 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-011-5125-2 Printed on acid-free paper All Rights Reserved ©1998 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 1998 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1998 No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner Contents Preface v List of Abbreviations ix 1. Rationale for a physical account of economic activities 1 ROBERT U. AYRES 2. Substance flows through environment and society 21 MICHAEL CHADWICK 3. Towards the end of waste 31 ROBERT A. FROSCH 4. Dematerialisation 45 ERNST ULRICH VON WEIZSACKER 5. Analytical tools for chain management 55 HELIAS UDO DE HAES, GJALT HUPPES & GEERT DE SNOO 6. Material flow accounts: definitions and data 85 IDDO WERNICK 7. Environmental research and modelling 97 HARMEN VERBRUGGEN 11 8. Software for material flow analysis 111 JOS BOELENS AND XANDER OLSTHOORN 9. Integrating life cycle assessment and economic evaluation 127 JANE POWELL, AMELIA CRAIGIDLL AND DAVID PEARCE 10. Dematerialisation and rematerialisation 147 SANDER DE BRUYN 11. Aggregate resource efficiency 165 FRANSBERKHOUT 12. The industrial ecology of lead and electric vehicles 191 ROBERT H. SOCOLOW AND VALERIE M. THOMAS 13. Dissipative emissions 217 ROB VAN DER VEEREN 14. Recycling of materials 229 PIETER VAN BEUKERING AND RANDALL CURLEE 15. Philips Sound and Vision 239 JACQUELINE CRAMER 16. Unilever 251 CHRIS DUTlLH 17. AT&T 259 BRADEN R. ALLENBY 18. Dow Europe 267 CLAUDE FUSSLER 19. The control of waste materials in Germany 275 ULFD. JAECKEL 20. Dematerialisation and innovation policy 285 J.L.A. JANSEN 21. The substance flow approach 297 MARIUS ENTHOVEN III 22. The EU eco-Iabel 307 MARCO LOPRIENO 23. Towards industrial transformation 321 PIER VEWNGA, JOYEETA GUPTA AND FRANS BERKHOUT Index 345 v Preface As we reach the end of the 20th century, the question of how to meet human needs and preferences while safeguarding the global environment is a major concern for many of us. If present trends are extrapolated into the future, they raise serious questions. Will our children, grandchildren and the generations thereafter be able to enjoy the quality of life we now strive for? Can the demands for food of 10 billion or more people be met while preserving biodiversity? Will all people have access to not only adequate food, potable water, clothing but also to housing, transport, electronics and recreation opportunities now common to the elite of the industrialised countries? Will the life support systems be stable and will nature continue to be the source of inspiration for all kinds of human activities? Extrapolation of present trends in resource use and in resource efficiency increases may not be the best way of imagining future economic and ecological problems. History indicates that human ingenuity has helped to adjust resource use to environmental conditions. But not in all cases. There is also evidence that some cultures have collapsed as a result of the over exploitation of natural resources. One thing is for certain, a pre-condition for survival is a proper understanding of signals of change and vulnerability. Since the late sixties a series of signals has made society aware of the potential problems of over exploitation and pollution of the earth's resources. In the nineties several concerns have come together to provide the basis for international efforts and new approaches to safeguard the global environment. Concern about depletion of resources (Malthus revisited) ftrst emerged in the late sixties and early seventies at the end of a period of high economic growth in the world economy. With technological change, the discovery of new reserves and slower growth rates, this concern diminished in the eighties. vi In the nineties the focus has shifted from limits on the input side of the economy to limits on the assimilative capacity and resilience of global life support systems such as the ozone layer, the climate system, biodiversity, water quality and land use. A second concern has been with pollution. Visible and noxious industrial emissions have been managed progressively through end-of-pipe and emergency measures. Over time this approach evolved into a reconsideration of the production process. In the 1990s management has moved beyond the process to include entire chains of material and substance flows. New heuristics whose policy implications are only now being understood have been developed to assess the resource and environmental burdens of production and consumption in a systematic way. A third concern is about fulfilling the needs of a growing world population. In the event that the developing world follows a development path similar to that of the industrialised world, the volume of goods and services would grow by many orders of magnitude. Theoretical analysis suggests that technological change and related changes in our economic incentive structure may be able to cope with the constraints of a finite set of resources at both the input and the output side of the economy. But how can we be sure that the changes required in production and consumption processes will come about? This calls for foresight, insight, creativity and most importantly, the political will to bring about the necessary changes. How can humans ensure that the right choices are made in the trade off between present use and safeguarding options for future generations? How can we ensure that the quality of life of future generations is not degraded by present over-exploitation? The major question at the threshold of the 21s1 century is whether the global market economy can deal with this challenge. Is our political system capable of including future needs in present day decisions? Research institutes world-wide can help to clarify the issues and the choices. Moreover they can help to develop the necessary concepts, tools and instruments that help producers, consumers, their interest groups and governments to adjust their policies and practices. It is for this reason that the Institute for Environmental Studies of the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam has published this book on the occasion of its 25th anniversary. This book is about the management of energy and material substance flows through environment and society. It starts with a series of chapters illustrating the need for a physical account of the economy which matches the more usual monetary account. These chapters show that the availability of environmental resources and the stability of the global life support systems are much too often taken for granted in our money economy. We need vii economic instruments and indicators that reflect the crucial role of the earth's natural capital. These chapters also illustrate that nature is full of paradoxes. For instance catastrophes are typical in nature, while this is what humanity will be trying to avoid. The next series of chapters illustrate research issues and tools. These chapters deal with the question of value in environmental studies, and whether economic valuation can be reconciled with other systems of value. Economic valuation approaches are applied in life cycle assessment, which has previously avoided this form of assessment. The challenges and tensions between economic and ecological analysis and modelling are also discussed. They illustrate how value judgement based on social and time preferences will always be an important element in the development of rules and incentives. These chapters are followed by a set of chapters that demonstrate the value of a systems approach in environmental analysis. A series of widely held beliefs are tested in the form of testing hypothesis. Of particular interest is the finding that the shift from an industrial economy to a services economy does not automatically lead to a decrease of the materials intensity in the economy. It also illustrates that dematerialisation, as an overall guiding principle, can lead to controversial and not necessarily environment friendly results. Finally, it shows that recycling of materials on an international scale may be both economically and environmentally beneficial. The book continues with case studies about progress in the development of resource efficiency policies by the private sector and governments. Case studies written by the representatives of Dow Europe, Unilever, Philips Sound and Vision and AT & T reflect the state of the art in industry. The case studies illustrate how environment has become a strategic element in the design of processes, products and marketing. The case studies of government initiatives deal with closed cycle management in Germany, product innovation processes in the Netherlands and life cycle based product policies in the European Union. The final part of the book is about policy developments in the national and international context. The concluding chapter sums up the key issues covered in the book and argues in favour of comprehensive research activities covering the relevant aspects of industrial transformation. We need a better understanding of how the macro-incentive structure (including fiscal, trade and liability aspects) effects production and consumption systems. The physical throughputs associated with industrial activities need to be considered through the framework of industrial ecology. Industrial Transformation research should particularly consider technological innovation and industrial ecology. A much better understanding of the patterns and dynamics of consumption is also needed, including research into consumers
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