Steering Business Toward Sustainability (UNU, 1995, 191 pages): Part three: Implementation: 10. Industrial clusters of the twenty-first century: Front-end solutions versus end-of-the-pipe solutions

Steering Business Toward Sustainability (UNU, 1995, 191 pages)

Part three: Implementation

10. Industrial clusters of the twenty-first century

		(introduction...)
		Zero defects, zero inventory, zero emissions
		Front-end solutions versus end-of-the-pipe solutions
		Economies of scale
		Will Japan embrace the zero concept?
		The new clusters
		Recycling of ink and paper
		Forestry, perfumes, and preservatives
		Sugar, cleansing materials, water softeners and compostable plastics
		Beer, salmon, and cattle
		More to come
		Rethinking industrial policies
		Cuffing government costs
		Revitalizing the inner cities
		The case of China
		The role of the United Nations University
		Conclusion

Front-end solutions versus end-of-the-pipe solutions

The internalization of many real costs of production, which now have to be borne by the polluter, has already made clear to many industrialists that it is better to reduce the cost of waste at the front end, than to have to cope with ever changing and complex environmental regulations and increasing burden of environmental taxes affecting the waste discharged "at the end of the pipe." But, while all this is to be applauded, a bolder step is needed to leapfrog in competitiveness. Industry must be willing to put its present selection of raw materials under scrutiny, rethink the manufacturing and distribution process, and be ready to engage in a search for zero emissions manufacturing.

Today industry depends heavily on raw materials which are not sustainable. We have evolved in a system where we know that several of the key input factors will not be available any more in twenty or thirty years. With the massive demand of six billion consumers today, and probably ten billion by the time the earth runs out of petroleum, there is a need to identify alternatives early on. The Club of Rome called for this long ago in the widely debated Limits to Growth report (1974).

The good news is that there are numerous opportunities to pursue alternatives, but unfortunately, these are not pursued with the vigor needed to convert our industries and consumption patterns to sustainable ones. However, the search for new materials offers a unique chance to re-engineer these innovations along sustainability lines.