Box 36B Clean production

Clean production is the application of an integrated strategy to reduce emissions from production processes while saving raw materials and energy. This concept views the industrial systems as analogues of ecosystems. Materials in an ideal industrial ecosystem are not depleted but after use they enter the production cycle again as raw materials. Manufacturing processes transform circulating material stocks from one form to another finding useful applications. There will always be unavoidable generation of waste. Industrial systems will never reach the recycling efficiency of biological systems, but it will be possible to develop a more closed industrial ecosystem through changes in product design, production processes and management practices.