Profit Centers in Industrial Ecology

Profit Centers in Industrial Ecology

Author: Ronald S. Smith

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 1998-10-15

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 0313007764

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Complying with environmental protection laws need not punch a hole in a firm's bottom line. Smith shows that compliance can be profitable. He provides corporate executives with easily accessed data and analyses of the theory of environmental management systems (EMS), and in doing so covers the major environmental concerns worrying corporate America. The result is a practical guide to the tools of environmental management and how they can be used to enhance a corporation's profitability while at the same time reducing its impact on the environment and consequent financial liabilities. Readers will find ways to tailor an appropriate strategy to their specific business needs, justify that strategy financially, and integrate the EMS into an existing business plan. Smith takes the reader through all of the environmental factors that affect profits and productivity. He demonstrates the practicality of not only considering the life cycle of a single product or service, but also the impact of life cycles throughout the entire company. A degree in environmental science is not needed to follow Smith's reasoning and advice, but solid business knowledge ^Iis^R important. Smith provides all of the background needed to start an EMS program, the benefits of which are limited only by management's priorities and the creativity of a company's people.


Managing Urban Water Supply

Managing Urban Water Supply

Author: D.E. Agthe

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-06-29

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 9401702373

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We, the editors, have long believed that a strong knowledge of relatively simple economic and engineering concepts is valuable in solving water management problems. The lack of such knowledge has been apparent to us in some of the journal articles, research proposals and books we have reviewed. The articles which have been written concerning specific local water economies and management issues are scattered over a wide variety of journals, making them hard to access. Most of the extensive water resources literature is concerned with large regional water projects or with narrow technical and regional issues. This book was written to make practical economic and engineering concepts readily available to urban water supply managers, thereby filling a gap in the available literature. It is concerned with decisions made daily, monthly, or annually by managers of urban water supply systems. The book includes basic chapters presenting supply and cost concepts, calculation of demand elasticities, use of marketing concepts, public goods analysis, water markets, industrial water demand and the use of price in water conservation. The authors have included multiple examples of how these concepts can aid in managing urban water supply. The water provider is generally a governmental entity or regulated private utility. Most books on public utilities and their management emphasize gas, electricity, or telephone rather than water. Water is different because of m~or variations in quality by source and the necessity for proper disposal of waste water.


Sustainability Sutra

Sustainability Sutra

Author: Roy Morrison

Publisher: SelectBooks, Inc.

Published: 2017-03-07

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 1590793889

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Sustainability Sutra addresses the pursuit of sustainability as crucial in the transformation from an industrial to an ecological civilization, exploring in succinct detail how sustainability can be accomplished through an ecological global growth strategy that makes economic growth mean ecological improvement. It is a meditative journey of self-discovery. It is a path and record of a writer's and reader's heart way. The book includes an Introduction that considers the dynamics of building an ecological future in market economies and examines how the price system can send clear signals for sustainability. Combining ecological consumption taxation, new market rules, fiscal, monetary and investment can catalyze the trillions of dollars of productive investment in a sustainable future.


Linking Industry and Ecology

Linking Industry and Ecology

Author: Ann Dale

Publisher: UBC Press

Published: 2007-11-01

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 0774857218

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The contributors to this volume draw on their experience in a variety of disciplines to explore the origins, promise, and relevance of the emerging field of industrial ecology. They situate industrial ecology within the broader range of environmental management strategies and concepts, from the practices of pollution prevention through life cycle management, to the more fundamental shift toward dematerialization and ecological design. Their work not only affirms what has been learned to date in this nascent field but also provides new insight by demonstrating that technologies are socially and politically embedded. This book makes a compelling argument for the need to think ecologically to develop innovative and competitive industrial policy.


A Handbook of Industrial Ecology

A Handbook of Industrial Ecology

Author: Robert U. Ayres

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2002-01-01

Total Pages: 712

ISBN-13: 9781843765479

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'The editors of this handbook have brought together 58 of the world's greatest environmental systems experts. These professionals have, in 46 specific topic headings, divided into six major sections, provided very insightful information and guidance as to what industrial ecology entails, how it can be implemented, and its benefits . . . a very valuable tool . . . This book provides essential information to mid- and top-level management that can enable industry to make more prudent business decisions regarding the manufacturing of its products.' - Robert John Klancko, Environmental Practice Industrial ecology is coming of age and this superb book brings together leading scholars to present a state-of-the-art overviews of the subject.


The Ecology of Industry

The Ecology of Industry

Author: National Academy of Engineering

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1998-09-03

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13: 0309063558

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This volume provides insights into the environmental practices of five industry sectors: materials processing, manufacturing, electric utilities, and pulp and paper. The ecology of industry is presented in terms of systems of production and consumption, taking into account the flows of material, energy, capital, and information. The book examines ways to improve the environmental performance of these industries (and others, such as the service sector) and shows how decisions made by industry managers can leverage systemic environmental improvements elsewhere in the economy.


The Social Embeddedness of Industrial Ecology

The Social Embeddedness of Industrial Ecology

Author: Frank Boons

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2009-01-01

Total Pages: 301

ISBN-13: 1848449062

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From its inception, the field of industrial ecology has taken a distinctly technological approach to understanding and improving ecological consequences of industrial activities. Increasingly however, scholars and practitioners are developing perspectives on the social embeddedness of industrial ecology: the ways in which material and energy flows in regions and product chains are shaped by the social context in which they occur. This book presents empirical work addressing how cognitive, cultural, political and structural mechanisms condition the emergence and operation of industrial ecology. Further exploring such mechanisms holds promise for understanding both the barriers to, and opportunities for, altering the ecological impacts of industrial practice. Through contemplative chapters and intermezzos , authors with different disciplinary backgrounds reflect on the contribution of work from various social sciences to industrial ecology. Unique to the volume, the authors of the commentaries bring in their personal and professional experiences, reflecting on how they have engaged in or have seen the value in cross-disciplinary work. They also include discussion explicitly on the dialogue and its value to the evolution of the field. In these ways, the book develops the dialogue between social science contributors and researchers from other disciplines within the field of industrial ecology. Scholars and students involved in the study of industrial ecology and related fields as well as practising managers and those involved in facilitating industrial ecology projects around the world will find this engaging and comprehensive volume indispensable.


Taking Stock of Industrial Ecology

Taking Stock of Industrial Ecology

Author: Roland Clift

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2015-12-11

Total Pages: 373

ISBN-13: 3319205714

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How can we design more sustainable industrial and urban systems that reduce environmental impacts while supporting a high quality of life for everyone? What progress has been made towards reducing resource use and waste, and what are the prospects for more resilient, material-efficient economies? What are the environmental and social impacts of global supply chains and how can they be measured and improved? Such questions are at the heart of the emerging discipline of industrial ecology, covered in Taking Stock of Industrial Ecology. Leading authors, researchers and practitioners review how far industrial ecology has developed and current issues and concerns, with illustrations of what the industrial ecology paradigm has achieved in public policy, corporate strategy and industrial practice. It provides an introduction for students coming to industrial ecology and for professionals who wish to understand what industrial ecology can offer, a reference for researchers and practitioners and a source of case studies for teachers.