Industrial Sustainability: General Guidelines and Implications

Abstract

Our vision is a future industrial system that delivers high value to its growing base of customers around the globe, while using, at most, a quarter of the current resources. The urgency for change is now feeding through from scientists into mainstream government, business and academic thinking. This chapter introduces sustainability in industrial systems starting from the wider context and putting in evidence the scale of challenge. This sustainable industrial system would be very different to today’s global industry – less homogenous with different business models and different relationships, creating different products and services – requiring new strategies, frameworks, and tools. In order to achieve this target a system design approach is required. Implications for sustainable manufacturing, supply chain design, sustainability performance measurement and management, and organizational change are provided. Open questions and discussion about tomorrow activities are derived, providing recommendations for educators, researchers, industrialists, and policy makers.