Resource management and sustainable production

Renewable resources

are natural sources that can replenish themselves over time.

Non-renewable resources

also referred to as finite resources, are those that cannot renew themselves at a sufficient rate to support sustainable economic extraction.

Reserves

denote the quantities of a natural resource that have been identified and quantified in terms of quality and availability.

Renewability

pertains to the ability of a resource to replenish itself over time or to exist in an inexhaustible supply.

Re-use

Involves the use of the same product in the same or different context.

Repair

Focuses on the reconstruction or renewal of any part of an existing structure or device.

Re-engineering

Involves redesigning components or products to enhance their characteristics or performance, such as speed and energy consumption.

Recycle

Refers to the process of using materials from obsolete products to create new ones.

Recondition

Entails rebuilding a product so that it is in an "as new" condition.

Dematerialization

Focuses on reducing the quantities of materials required to achieve the same functionality, essentially doing more with less.

Raw Material Recovery

Entails separating components of a product to recover parts and materials for reuse.

WEEE Recovery

Deals with the recovery of materials and components from electrical products that pose environmental and health hazards if not properly managed.

Energy Recovery

Converts waste into energy, either through waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) processes.

Standard Parts at the End of Product Life

Focuses on reducing material and energy use by limiting environmental impact throughout a product’s lifecycle.

Life Cycle Analysis (LCA)

is a technique used to assess the environmental impact of a product at every stage, from raw material extraction through manufacturing, distribution, use, repair, maintenance, and disposal or recycling.

 circular economy

promotes the use of waste as a resource within a closed-loop system, where materials are kept in use for as long as possible.

Local

Issues like noise, smell, air pollution, and soil and water pollution.

Regional

Problems such as soil and water over-fertilization and pollution, drought, waste disposal, and air pollution.

Fluvial

Pollution affecting rivers, regional waters, and watersheds.

Continental

Concerns including ozone levels, acidification, winter smog, and heavy metals.

Global

Challenges like climate change, sea level rise, and impacts on the ozone layer.

Incremental Solutions

These involve improving and developing products over time, leading to new versions and generations.

Radical Solutions

This approach involves devising completely new products by rethinking solutions from the ground up.