“Sustainable development is not a fixed state of harmony, but a process of change in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological development and institutional change are made consistent with future as well as present needs. Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” [1].
Sustainable Development Goals are the main part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 [2].
Life Cycle Analysis concerns all environmental impacts attributable to the functioning of a product over its life cycle, cradle to grave (abbreviated) [3].
Industrial ecology is the study of the flows of materials and energy in industrial and consumer activities, of the effects of these flows on the environment, and of the influences of economic, political, regulatory, and social factors on the flow, use and transformation of resources [4].
Industrial Symbiosis is a subset of industrial ecology. It is concerned with transferring the biology analogy of the eco-system to the industrial system [5].
A circular economy is one that is restorative and regenerative by design, and which aims to keep products, components and materials at their highest utility and value at all times, distinguishing between technical and biological cycles [6].
References
[1] Brundtland GH, 1987, Our Common Future, report World Commission on Environment and Development of the UN.
[2] UN 2015, Transforming our world: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Resolution General Assembly U.N.
[3] Schaschke C, 2014, Oxford Dictionary of Chemical Engineering, Oxford U. Press, Oxford (UK).
[4] Ayres RU, 2002. Ayres LW, A handbook of Industrial ecology, Cheltenham USA: Edward Elgar Publ. Ltd, 2002.
[5] Chertow, MR 2007, Uncovering industrial symbiosis, Journal of Industrial Ecology 11.1, 11-30.
[6] Ellen MacArthur Foundation, circular economy scheme. resourced from; https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/circular-economy/interactive-diagram