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05-02-2020

EV20001: ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

Lecture #3

Industrial Ecology

Dr. Shamik Chowdhury


School of Environmental Science and Engineering
E-mail: shamikc@iitkgp.ac.in

5 February 2020

What is an ecosystem?
 An ecosystem is a community of living organisms (plants, animals and
microbes) in conjunction with the nonliving components of their environment (air,
water and mineral soil) interacting as a system.

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 Biotic components and abiotic components of an ecosystem interact


with and affect one another.

Trophic levels
Top
carnivores

Carnivores,
Some omnivores

Heterotrophs
(other feeders)
Carnivores,
Omnivores

Herbivores,
Omnivores

Photosynthetic
organisms Autotrophs
(self-feeders)

Bacteria, Decomposers Heterotrophs


Fungi

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Flow of matter and energy in ecosystems


 The main structural components (energy, chemicals, and organisms) of an ecosystem
are linked by matter recycling and the flow of energy from the sun, through
organisms, and then into the environment.

Flow of matter in ecosystems


 Within all kinds of ecosystem, matter (atoms, ions, molecules) cycle through the living and
non-living components of the ecosystem. These cycles are called biogeochemical cycles.

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Flow of energy in ecosystems


 Chemical energy in nutrients flows through various trophic levels; most of the energy
is degraded to heat in accordance with the second law of thermodynamics.

Flow of energy in ecosystems


 The large loss in energy between successive
trophic levels also explains why food chains and
webs rarely have more than four or five trophic
levels.

 In most cases, too little energy is left after four or


five transfers to support organisms feeding at
these high trophic levels.

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Productivity of ecosystems
 Gross primary productivity (GPP)

• Rate at which an ecosystem’s producers (usually plants) convert solar energy into
chemical energy in the form of biomass over a given time span.

• Affected by how efficient photosynthesis is in a given system. Tropical rainforests,


for example, have a very high GPP as rainforests have everything plants need to
photosynthesize.

• Usually measured in terms of energy production per unit area over a given time
span, such as kilocalories per square meter per year (kcal m‒2 yr‒1).

 Net primary productivity (NPP)

• Rate at which producers use photosynthesis to produce and store chemical energy
minus the rate at which they use some of this stored chemical energy through
aerobic respiration.

Productivity of ecosystems

NPP = GPP – R
Glucose produced during photosynthesis
(i.e., gross primary productivity)

Some glucose used to Remaining glucose


supply energy to drive available to be laid down as
cellular processes new material, i.e., energy
(e.g., respiration) available to consumers
(net primary productivity)

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Global material and energy flows


 The urban system is criss-crossed by a lot of material flows. It is generally an open system
that depends on its hinterland for both supply and disposal. Almost all resources come from
outside urban areas, and often from afar.

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Global material and energy flows


 Since the Industrial Revolution, our economic development has progressed along a linear
(one way) system.

 Our economic subsystem operating within the parent ecosystem (i.e., the global natural
ecosystem) uses physical flows of materials and energy in a linear fashion.

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Our current unsustainable global economy


 The linear throughput flow is “running down” the parent system in which it operates, from
which it sources and to which it releases its wastes and emissions.

 Our existing economic model is, therefore, unsustainable as, eventually, we shall use up
all the natural resources we have and there will be nothing left for future generations.

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Industrial ecology
 Conceptualises industry as a man-made ecosystem that operates in a similar way to
natural ecosystems, where the waste or by product of one process is used as an input into
another process.

 Integrates the principles of science, engineering, and ecology in industrial systems through
which goods and services are provided in a way that minimizes environmental impact and
optimizes utilization of resources, energy, and capital.

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 Industrial ecology interacts with natural ecosystems and attempts to move


from a linear to cyclical or closed loop system.

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 Industrial ecology interacts with natural ecosystems and attempts to move


from a linear to cyclical or closed loop system.

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Circular Economy

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Circular economy
 A biomimetic concept, inspired by the flow of resources and energy within
ecosystems.

 In the Circular Economy nothing is wasted.

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 The primary goal of a Circular Economy is to keep products, components


and materials at their highest utility and value, at all times. This means both
natural (biological) and man-made (technical) materials or resources
circulate in infinite production cycles which is facilitated at the design and
manufacturing stage of products.

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 The primary goal of a Circular Economy is to keep products, components


and materials at their highest utility and value, at all times. This means both
natural (biological) and man-made (technical) materials or resources
circulate in infinite production cycles which is facilitated at the design and
manufacturing stage of products.

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 Various approaches, known as R-strategies, have been developed to


achieve less resource and material consumption in product chains and make
the economy more circular.

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 Various approaches, known as R-strategies, have been developed to


achieve less resource and material consumption in product chains and make
the economy more circular.

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 Various approaches, known as R-strategies, have been developed to


achieve less resource and material consumption in product chains and make
the economy more circular.

Stephen Riady Centre (UTown)


National University of Singapore
Republic of Singapore

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 Various approaches, known as R-strategies, have been developed to


achieve less resource and material consumption in product chains and make
the economy more circular.

Stephen Riady Centre (UTown)


National University of Singapore
Republic of Singapore

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 Users, with their values, attitudes, and most importantly their behaviours, are
the key enablers of a circular economy.

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 A successful circular economy contributes to all the three dimensions of


sustainable development: economic, environmental and social.

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What incentives would encourage you to buy second-


hand products?

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Circular Business Models

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Circular business models


1. CIRCULAR SUPPLY CHAIN

 Scarce resources are replaced with fully renewable, recyclable or biodegradable


resource inputs.

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Circular business models


1. CIRCULAR SUPPLY CHAIN
EXAMPLE #1
WHAT ?
 AKZONOBEL change the way its
customers use chemicals to a more
sustainable way

WHY ?
 To enable a healthier planet
HOW ?
 Purchasing steam from a local waste
incinerator
 Dulux Weathershield solar reflective paint
 Rediset additives that allow asphalt to be
mixed at lower temperatures
 Intersleek marine coatings that help ships
to reduce fuel consumption and cut
emissions

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Circular business models


1. CIRCULAR SUPPLY CHAIN
EXAMPLE #2
WHAT ?
 AEROFARMS enable commercial scale
farming near population centres

WHY ?
 To enable local production at scale
 To nourish communities with safe food
 To provide dependable and food supply
HOW ?
 Technology enabled farming techniques
leveraging modern biotechnologies to
develop augmented farming capabilities

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Circular business models


2. RECOVERY AND RECYCLING

 Leverages technological innovations and capabilities to recover and reuse resource


outputs that eliminates material leakage and maximizes economic value.

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Circular business models


2. RECOVERY AND RECYCLING
EXAMPLE #3
WHAT ?
 Reduce the environmental impacts of
TIMBERLAND’s products throughout the
whole product life cycle

WHY ?
 To influence the environmental impact of
shoes after the point of purchase
 To produce the most environmentally
friendly shoes possible
 Increase consumer engagement and loyalty
HOW ?
 Product designed entirely for disassembly
 Enable in-store return

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Circular business models


2. RECOVERY AND RECYCLING
EXAMPLE #4
WHAT ?
 Reduce the environmental impacts of
PUMA’s products and the end of life
product disposal

WHY ?
 Puma understood sustainability as a mega
trend that was embedded into the
enterprise as a competitive advantage and
social corporate responsibility

HOW ?
 Development of biodegradable apparel to
minimize the environment impact at the end
of life

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Circular business models


3. PRODUCT LIFE EXTENSION

 Material that otherwise would be wasted is maintained or even improved, such as


through remanufacturing, repairing, upgrading or re-marketing.

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Circular business models


3. PRODUCT LIFE EXTENSION
EXAMPLE #5
WHAT ?
 “Don’t buy this Jacket” campaign
incentivizing the repair of damaged
PATAGONIA products

WHY ?
 To support its commitment to environmental
sustainability
 To differentiate itself from mainstream
consumption patters
 To reduce consumption across clothing
value chain

HOW ?
 Provide a repair service for damaged
Patagonia goods to extend product life
 Host an online trading/market platform

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Circular business models


3. PRODUCT LIFE EXTENSION
EXAMPLE #6
WHAT ?
 Keep resources in the CATERPILLAR
value chain through a circular flow of
materials, energy and water

WHY ?
 To find opportunities for new end-of-life
parts
 To provide customers with quality
equipment that provides the best economic
proposition for their business
 To keep renewable resources in circulation
for multiple lifetimes

HOW ?
 Development of a remanufacturing and
repair service

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Circular business models


3. PRODUCT LIFE EXTENSION
EXAMPLE #7
WHAT ?
 Create a low-cost return channel for
e-waste

WHY ?
 Improve availability and accessibility of
drop-off sites
 Engage consumers to increase return rates
and extend life of electronic devices

HOW ?
 Provide an automated, self-serve kiosk that
quickly evaluates and buys back used
consumer electronics for cash

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Circular business models


4. SHARING PLATFORMS

 Centered on the sharing of products and assets that have a low ownership or use rate.

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Circular business models


4. SHARING PLATFORMS
EXAMPLE #8
WHAT ?
 Business-to-consumer (B2C) food delivery
service, pooling offerings from various
restaurant services. Leverage of carbon
free cycle delivery

WHY ?
 Respond to consumer pains of multiple
foods delivery offerings
 Contextualization of value proposition to
urban settings of high density and
congestion
 Offering to Hotel/Restaurant/Café
businesses to maximize revenue from
kitchen assets

HOW ?
 Create a marketplace offering of various
restaurants (DELIVEROO)

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Circular business models


4. SHARING PLATFORMS
EXAMPLE #9
WHAT ?
 Facilitate sharing of over capacity of
business equipment, skills and knowledge
of FLOOW2 that are often underutilized

WHY ?
 To maximize utility of resources
 To offer an improved return on investment
to customers
 To lower the operating costs of customers
HOW ?
 Create a business-to-business (B2B)
marketplace for businesses to advertise
offers or post need requests

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Circular business models


5. PRODUCT AS A SERVICE

 Customers use products through a lease or pay-for-use arrangement versus the


conventional buy-to-own approach.

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Circular business models


5. PRODUCT AS A SERVICE
EXAMPLE #10
WHAT ?
 ROLLS-ROYCE offer customers a “power
by the hour” service in a pay per use
contract

WHY ?
 Commitment to produce high quality
products
 Capture more value in client relationships
by offering additional maintenance services
of products

HOW ?
 Today’s “power by the hour” programs are
highly sustained by use of internet of things
and connectivity to detect usage,
performance and defaults.

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Circular business models


5. PRODUCT AS A SERVICE
EXAMPLE #11
WHAT ?
 HILTI to shift entire enterprise business
model towards a leasing model

WHY ?
 To turn around an ailing business and
differentiate the customer value proposition
to customers

HOW ?
 Development of a “tool fleet management”
service as a new value proposition for
customers

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Industrial Symbiosis

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Industrial symbiosis
 A business relationship focused on sharing resources: an association between two or more
industrial facilities or companies in which the wastes or byproducts of one become the raw
materials for another. Even simpler: “One’s trash, another’s treasure”.

 This kind of co-operation reduces the total impact of the industry on the environment, and
the individual businesses improve their bottom-line figures as well as their competitiveness.

 Industrial symbiosis is a subset of the academic term ‘industrial ecology’ which again is a
subset of the ‘circular economy’ umbrella.

 Industrial symbiosis is a key enabling business model for advancing the move to a circular
economy.

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 The concept of industrial symbiosis is an appropriate analogy for the special


environment that exists in Kalundborg, Denmark where eight very different
business partners are co-operating to promote common values, both
economically and environmentally.

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Limits of the Circular


Economy Concept

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Thermodynamic limits
 Due to the second law of thermodynamics, recycling will always require energy and will
always be incomplete, generating wastes and side-products (increasing entropy, decreasing
exergy) of its own.

 Dissipated materials are lost in the ecosystem and it is impossible to recover them. The
search, gathering and recovery would require vast amounts of energy. Therefore, complete
recycling is impossible.

 Like all material and energy using processes, circular economy promoted recycling, reuse,
remanufacturing and refurbishment processes too will ultimately lead to unsustainable levels
of resource depletion, pollution and waste generation if the growth of the physical scale of
the total economic system is not checked.

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System boundary limits


 Approximately 75% of the global energy production is based on non-renewable and
emissions intensive fossil fuels, the combustion of which does not adapt to biosphere's
reproductive cycles; dead resources are extracted from nature, from lithosphere, processed,
used and dumped back to living nature, to biosphere in a harmful form.

 Therefore, although sustainable development is a global goal, circular economy projects that
have been implemented and that will be implemented in the near future will always be local
or regional at most.

 Each circular economy project should, therefore, be considered for its contribution to global
net sustainability in the long-term. This means what is left as improvement or positive
outcome after an individual project or action as compared to a situation before the project.

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Limits posed by physical scale of the economy

 When production efficiency increases, production costs decrease and eventually the prices
of end-products decrease. This boosts up consumption.

 Therefore, perhaps the most important question for circular economy in terms of long-term
sustainable development of the global society is how can the saved resources and money
generated by the circular economy model be directed to sustainable consumption practices.

 If the current consumption culture will not change, circular economy will remain as a
technical tool that does not change the course of the current unsustainable economic
paradigm.

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Limits posed by path-dependency and lock-in

 When an economic innovation is launched at the market, immediately a process that


determines its influence power starts.

 Usually the first accepted idea achieves the best markets and receives most awareness.

 Returns to scale and learning effects make the first innovation stronger in the market than
innovations penetrating the market later.

 This phenomenon is known as path dependency and lock-in, the ‘survival of the first instead
of the fittest’.

 In the context of circular economy, this means that new innovations, models and systems
designed for product reuse, remanufacturing and refurbishment have to compete in the
market with the more conventional recycling for low quality raw materials utilization systems
and combustion for energy solutions.

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Limits of governance and management


 The physical flows of materials and energy extracted from nature travel through many
different interdependent parts within the economic production-consumption system before
they end up as wastes and emissions in ecosystems.

 The flows do not respect man-made/defined administrative, geographic, sectoral or


organizational borders and boundaries.

 New business models including product design for multiple life cycles, leasing and renting
the product while maintaining its ownership and reverse logistics in the supply chain have
been proposed for circular economy. All of these require interorganizational sustainability
management.

 Inter-organizational cooperation is required between the supplier firm and the customer firm
(business to business marketing) and between the producer and consumer, e.g., in leasing
or renting the product while retaining ownership.

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Limits of social and cultural definitions


 The concept of waste has a strong influence on its handling, management and utilization.

 The concept of waste is always constructed in a certain cultural, social and temporal context
and this context is dynamic and changing.

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What purchasing decisions do you make where circular


economy principles can be applied?

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