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Industrial Metabolism
Industrial metabolism describes, using an analogy of human metabolism, the process by which industry convert raw materials, energy, and labor into finished products and wastes in a (more or less) steady-state condition. This characterization was developed in the 1960s when increased concerns about the environment prompted analyses of industrial operations analogous to the way material and energy balances are described in natural ecological systems.
Applications
The concept of industrial metabolism is useful for ecological economics as it provides a way to analyze the flow of physical resources in industrial and societal systems from an integrated perspective, allowing the study of system-wide effects and problem shifting due to environmental policies. It can be usefully applied at many different levels from global through national, regional, sectoral, company, site, and ...
- Business Organizations, Movements, and Planning
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- Core Competencies
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- Discounting
- Dow Jones Sustainability Index
- Ecoeffectiveness
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- Ecoindustrial Park
- Ecological Economics
- Economic Value Added
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- Energy Performance Contracting
- Energy Service Company
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- International Organization for Standardization
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- Leadership in Green Business
- Life Cycle Analysis
- Material Input per Service Unit (MIPS)
- Maximum Achievable Control Technology
- National Priorities List
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- New Source Review
- Quantitative Risk Assessment
- Recycling, Business of
- Reverse Logistics
- Service Design
- Social Return on Investment
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- Right to Know
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