INSTITUTE OF RURAL MANAGEMENT ANAND

SDGB | ASSIGMENT – 4
Role of Industries in Promoting Sustainable Production and Consumption
Submitted By:
Akanksha Sharma | P39006
Section – A

With rapid rate at which our population is growing over the last few decades, our
demand for goods and services has also increased. More than the absolute growth in population
count, the cultures and trends play a major role in defining what we demand and how we
consume. That said, over the last few decades the natural resources have taken a serious hit
because of the taxing production and consumption pattern by human beings which is linear -
depleting and degrading the limited resources at an alarming rate. Everyday thousands of goods
are produced for which metals are extracted, trees are cut and fuel is burned leading to GHG
emissions and destruction of carbon sinks. In turn, we also produce tonnes of waste that is
incinerated- causing serious air pollution with GHG emissions; and then thrown in landfills-
which contaminates groundwater and degrades soil quality with its toxicity. Also a large
amount of waste is thrown into the oceans along with slow absorption of CO2 emissions. This
has disturbed the marine ecosystem by increasing its acidity (lowering pH level) causing
serious harm to the underwater life and resources.

The industries take a centre stage when it comes to defining how a society produces
and consumes. Industrial revolution laid the foundation stone for mass production of goods
at low costs, providing for masses at affordable prices and driving the consumption rates up. It
was for increasing their profitability that industries started pushing their products into the
markets while their marketing gimmicks push people to consume more in quantity and
frequency. Current trend is that of owning the newest of technologies, latest fashions and
trendiest gadgets as incomes are increasing and technology is making production processes
cheaper (and goods affordable) – leading to increase in Consumerism which comes at the cost
of our planet. Hence this situation demands a serious change that has to be the responsibility
of the same industries that initiated it and the consumers who are driving it.

The 12th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 12) calls for responsible consumption
and production. Industries should ensure their production processes are not degrading the
environment. For this, firms need to engage in responsible sourcing. For responsible
production, industries should now become carbon neutral and strive to move towards being
carbon negative. This can be achieved by adopting correct methods for industrial waste
treatment which is a major pollutant and moving towards production of non-toxic,
biodegradable and eco-friendly products. Production processes need to be improved in terms
of technology and technique so that less of waste and emissions are generated and lesser fuel
is required. Innovations like AirCarbon by Newlight Technologies, Solarcity and Lithium-
ion batteries by Tesla are need of the hour and should be supported.

Consumption patterns should move towards releasing least amount of waste possible.
Consumers need to understand the importance of and adopt in practice- recycle, reuse, reduce.
This campaign should be led by industries by producing quality products that are durable
(longer life-cycles), providing recycling and repairing services rather than just producing more;
and reusing used goods themselves to bring the material back in production loop than getting
thrown as waste. Marketing recycled and refurbished products will play an important role in
making this happen. Hence, the producers and the consumers have to work together and move
towards a circular economy.

REFERENCES

 Iacovidou, E., Millward-Hopkins, J., Busch, J., Purnell, P., Velis, C. A., Hahladakis, J. N.,...
& Brown, A. (2017). A pathway to circular economy: Developing a conceptual framework
for complex value assessment of resources recovered from waste. Journal of cleaner
production, 168, 1279-1288.

 Cole, C. (2010, Jun 21). Environment. Retrieved from The Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/jun/21/overconsumption-environment-
relationships-annie-leonard