IB MET L13 - Industrial Sustainability

Industrial sustainability

Industrial sustainability is the:

• Design, manufacture, and operation of goods/services that meet present needs
  without reducing future:

  • Economic opportunity

  • Social opportunity

  • Environmental opportunity

Main goals

Industry should actively contribute to:

• Environmental sustainability

• Social sustainability

• Economic sustainability

Focus areas

• Sustainable manufacturing

• Efficient resource use

• Reduced environmental impact

• Long-term economic viability

• Social responsibility

👉 Key idea:
Industrial sustainability aims to create industrial systems that satisfy current needs while protecting future generations and supporting long-term economic, environmental, and social wellbeing.

Why Industrial Sustainability Matters

Major sustainability challenges

• Climate change and greenhouse gas emissions

• Water stress and shortages

• Pollution and environmental damage

• Resource depletion

• Waste production

• Biodiversity loss and endangered species

• Ocean acidification

• Deforestation

Water stress

Occurs when regions use large portions of renewable water supplies for:

• Agriculture/irrigation

• Livestock

• Industry

• Domestic use

Human impacts

Environmental problems affect:

• Human health

• Air quality

• Wellbeing and quality of life

Example:

• Air pollution contributes to major health problems and disease burden globally.

👉 Key idea:
Industrial sustainability matters because industrial activity strongly affects climate, resources, ecosystems, and human health, creating long-term environmental and societal risks.

Main Barriers to Sustainability Adaptation and Change

Barriers to industrial sustainability vary across:

• Countries

• Industries

• Geographical regions

• Organisations

Key barriers include:

• Economics
  High costs, uncertain returns, pressure for short-term profits

• Finance
  Limited funding or investment for sustainable technologies/projects

• Information, Awareness & Technology
  Lack of data, knowledge, technical expertise, or access to technology

• Social & Cultural Factors
  Resistance to behavioural change, organisational culture, consumer attitudes

• Human Capacity
  Skills shortages, lack of trained workforce or leadership capability

• Governance, Institutional & Policy Issues
  Weak regulation, inconsistent policies, poor coordination, slow decision-making

Example:

• Some regions may struggle mainly with funding

• Others may face greater barriers from technology access, policy limitations, or public awareness

👉 Key idea:
Industrial sustainability is not limited by technology alone — economic, financial, organisational, social, and policy barriers all affect adaptation, and these barriers differ significantly across regions and industries.

UK Commitments to Reduce Emissions

The UK aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to near zero by the middle of the century as part of its net-zero strategy.

Key commitments include:

• “Clean” electricity by 2035

• Increasing the share of zero-emission vehicles

  • Target: around 80% of new cars

• Investment in carbon capture technologies

• Expansion of heat pump installations to reduce fossil-fuel heating

👉 Key idea:
The UK’s decarbonisation strategy focuses on transforming energy, transport, heating, and industrial systems to achieve long-term net-zero emissions.

Great British Energy

Great British Energy is a planned UK public energy company focused on accelerating renewable energy investment and energy transition projects.

Key aims include:

• Installing thousands of clean power projects across the UK

• Supporting large-scale renewable energy infrastructure

• Encouraging private investment in next-generation energy technologies

• Helping deliver power for around 20 million homes

Key details:

• Headquarters: Aberdeen, Scotland

• Planned investment includes around £8.3 billion in wind power

👉 Key idea:
Great British Energy is intended to support UK decarbonisation by investing in renewable energy, scaling clean infrastructure, and accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Regulations & Incentives for Industrial Sustainability

Voluntary Product Standards & Embodied Emissions

Governments are developing standards to help businesses promote low-carbon products.

Key features:

• Consistent frameworks for reporting embodied emissions
  (emissions generated across production and supply chains)

• Supports comparison of products based on carbon impact

• Could evolve into mandatory product standards with maximum permitted embodied emissions

Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) — 2027

A proposed mechanism that applies carbon-related costs to imported goods.

The liability depends on:

• The GHG emissions intensity of the imported product

• The difference between:

  • the carbon price in the exporting country

  • and the carbon price that would have applied if produced in the UK

👉 Key idea:
Sustainability regulation is increasingly shifting from voluntary reporting toward carbon-accounting systems and financial incentives/penalties designed to reduce emissions across global supply chains.

Why Industry Matters for Sustainability

Industry is a major contributor to global sustainability challenges.

Key impacts include:

• Around 30% or more of global greenhouse gas emissions

  • Potentially higher when linked sectors such as:

    • Construction

    • Agriculture

    • Logistics/supply chains
      are included

Industry also heavily affects:

• Energy consumption

• Waste generation

• Natural resource use

• Pollution and environmental damage

Industrial activity is driven largely by:

• Commercial and economic interests

• Large-scale production and consumption systems

👉 Key idea:
Industry is not separate from sustainability problems — it is a major part of the global economic and environmental system, meaning sustainable industrial transformation is essential for reducing emissions, waste, and resource depletion.

Industry and Sustainability Challenges

Industry is a major contributor to global sustainability challenges.

1. Electricity

2. Heat

Industrial activity contributes significantly to:

• Greenhouse gas emissions

• Energy use (especially electricity and heat)

• Waste production

• Natural resource consumption

• Pollution and environmental damage

Industry-related sectors such as manufacturing, construction, transport, and agriculture together account for a very large share of global emissions.

A major challenge is that many industrial processes still depend heavily on fossil fuels, particularly for:

• High-temperature heat

• Large-scale energy demand

• Industrial manufacturing processes

Alternative technologies such as:

• Hydrogen

• Electrification

• Carbon capture

are developing, but many have not yet scaled as quickly as expected.

Governments are therefore introducing:

• Emissions targets

• Renewable-energy investment

• Product standards

• Carbon pricing and border-adjustment mechanisms

to accelerate industrial transition.

👉 Key idea:
Industry is deeply embedded within environmental systems and is both a major source of sustainability challenges and a critical part of achieving long-term sustainable solutions.

Industrial Water Demand

Industry is a significant user of global water resources and can worsen water-stress problems.

Industrial water use

• UK industry uses around 12% of national water demand

• In many countries, industry consumes much larger proportions of available water supplies

Water demand in manufacturing

Approximate water required to produce:

• Average car → ~175,000 litres

• Smartphone → ~12,700 litres

• Pair of jeans → ~3,800 litres

• 1 litre bottled water → ~5.3 litres

• 1 litre petrol → ~4.5 litres

Sustainability challenge

Industrial activity can:

• Increase pressure on already limited water supplies

• Generate polluted wastewater

• Exacerbate regional water stress and environmental damage

👉 Key idea:
Industrial production often requires very large volumes of water, meaning manufacturing and resource extraction can significantly contribute to water scarcity and pollution challenges.

Sustainability and the Manufacturing Industry

Sustainable development

Defined as:

“Providing for the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.”
— Brundtland Commission (1987)

Triple Bottom Line

Industry must balance three areas:

• Economic → Profit / business survival

• Social → People / workforce / communities

• Environmental → Planet / environmental impact

Also commonly linked to:

• ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance)

What this means for industry

Companies must:

• Make enough profit to survive and grow

• Maintain a safe, motivated, empowered workforce

• Act responsibly within society and local communities

• Reduce environmental damage and resource use

👉 Key idea:
Sustainable manufacturing is not only about the environment — firms must balance economic success, social responsibility, and environmental protection simultaneously.

Profit & Sustainability in Industry

Economic pressure on companies

Most companies aim for more than survival.

Shareholder pressure to maximise profits often leads to:

• Continuous cost-cutting

• Expansion and growth

• Efficiency improvements

When cost-cutting can support sustainability

Examples:

• Waste reduction

• Better material/resource efficiency

• Reduced non-value-adding materials (e.g. excess packaging)

• Improved quality control (“right first time”)

  • Less scrap

  • Less rework

  • Fewer returned goods

When cost-cutting can harm sustainability

Examples:

• Reducing labour/workforce costs

• Prioritising cheap products over durable quality

• Encouraging overproduction and excessive consumption

• Focusing on short-term profit instead of long-term sustainability

• Competitive pressures that prioritise growth above environmental/social goals

👉 Key idea:
Profit-driven efficiency can improve sustainability through waste reduction and resource efficiency, but excessive focus on cost-cutting and short-term growth can also create major social and environmental problems.

Why companies pursue sustainability

Regulatory & ethical drivers

• Compliance with environmental regulations and standards

• Corporate social responsibility (“it’s the right thing to do”)

Business benefits

Sustainability can:

• Drive internal innovation

• Reduce environmental and operational risk

• Attract and retain employees

• Expand market reach

• Build brand loyalty

• Reduce production costs through efficiency

• Generate positive publicity and reputation benefits

• Differentiate products and brands in the market

👉 Key idea:
Sustainability is not only an ethical or regulatory issue — it can also improve competitiveness, innovation, reputation, efficiency, and long-term business performance.

Today’s Linear Economy

Linear economy model

Traditional industrial systems often follow a:

Take → Make → Waste

process:

1. Resource extraction

2. Production

3. Distribution

4. Consumption

5. Disposal

Key assumption

The linear economy effectively assumes:

• Infinite natural resources

• Infinite environmental capacity to absorb waste and pollution

Sustainability problem

In reality, Earth has:

• Finite resources

• Limited regenerative capacity

• Limited ability to absorb emissions and waste

This creates issues such as:

• Resource depletion

• Pollution

• Waste accumulation

• Climate change

👉 Key idea:
Modern industrial systems are often based on a linear “take-make-waste” model that is unsustainable because natural resources and environmental capacity are limited.

Circular Economy

Circular economy concept

The circular economy aims to keep materials, products, and resources in use for as long as possible rather than following a linear “take-make-waste” model.

Key stages include:

• Sustainable design

• Production

• Distribution

• Consumption, reuse & repair

• Collection

• Recycling/remanufacturing

• Waste management

Main goals

• Minimise waste and emissions

• Reduce raw material usage

• Extend product lifespan

• Improve resource efficiency

• Reduce environmental footprint

Key principle

Waste is viewed as a design flaw, not an inevitable outcome.

UN vision for a circular economy

• Inclusive

• Efficient

• Long-lasting

• Continuous

👉 Key idea:
A circular economy focuses on continuously reusing, repairing, recycling, and recovering materials to minimise waste and reduce dependence on finite resources.

Forward-Facing Sustainability Thinking & Material Life Cycle

Forward-facing sustainability questions

Industries increasingly need to consider:

• Re-orienting existing business models

• Embedding environmental and sustainability concerns into decision-making

• Redesigning products and manufacturing processes for sustainability

Material life cycle

Materials move through multiple stages:

1. Raw material extraction

2. Material processing

3. Manufacturing & production

4. Product use

5. Disposal or recycling

Key sustainability issue

At every stage of the material life cycle:

• Energy is consumed

• Water is used

• Transport is required

• Waste and emissions are produced

Even recycling processes still require energy and resources.

Main idea

Reducing waste, energy use, and resource consumption at any stage can reduce the environmental impact of the entire material life cycle.

👉 Key idea:
Industrial sustainability requires redesigning products, processes, and business models to minimise waste and environmental impact across the full material life cycle.

Reduction Strategies in Industrial Sustainability

1. Waste Reduction

Reducing waste linked to:

• Materials

• Energy use

• Transport

Can occur through improvements in:

• Factory processes

• Supply chains

• Office operations

2. Product Reduction

Reducing the amount of physical material/products needed.

Methods include:

• Dematerialisation → delivering the same function with fewer materials

• Lightweighting → using less material through improved design/material selection

Example:

• Smartphones replace multiple separate products such as cameras, scanners, music players, GPS devices, and laptops.

Broader approaches

• Product-Service Systems (PSS) → customers access a service rather than owning products

• Industrial Symbiosis → waste/resources from one industry become inputs for another

👉 Key idea:
Sustainability can be improved both by reducing waste during production and by reducing the total amount of material/products society needs overall.

Re-use in Industrial Sustainability

Product Re-use

Re-using products saves energy and reduces waste by avoiding:

• Product disposal

• New material production

• Manufacturing processes

• Transport and delivery of replacement products

This reduces environmental impact across much of the material life cycle.

Industrial examples of re-use

Water

• Recirculating/reusing industrial water systems

Packaging

• Reusable pallets and containers

• Can reduce waste but may create logistical complexity

Office operations

• Avoid disposable items (e.g. reusable cups/glasses instead of plastic cups)

Machines & equipment

• Repair, refurbish, and recondition machinery instead of replacing it

👉 Key idea:
Re-use improves sustainability by extending product life and avoiding the energy, materials, and waste associated with producing entirely new products.

Recycling in Industrial Sustainability

Recycling

Recycling reduces environmental impact by decreasing the need for new raw material production (e.g. less mining and extraction).

• Conventional recycling still requires processing energy/materials.

• Material re-use is more sustainable because it avoids most of the material production stage and uses minimal processing.

Recycling effectiveness depends on the material

Material	Economic Value	Environmental Benefit	Technical Viability
Cement	Low	Potentially high	Difficult
Office paper	Medium	Moderate	Material quality degrades
Metals	High	Strong	Generally very recyclable

Recycling economics

Recycling is more viable when:

• Material value is high

• Recycling cost is low

Metals are therefore recycled more effectively than many low-value materials.

👉 Key idea:
Recycling helps reduce raw material extraction and waste, but it is generally less environmentally effective than reducing or re-using materials because recycling still requires energy, transport, and processing.

Circular Economy & Closed Loops

Circular Economy

The circular economy aims to keep materials, products, and resources in use for as long as possible through continuous loops rather than a linear “take–make–waste” system.

Key loops in the circular economy

Technical materials:

• Share

• Maintain/repair

• Reuse/redistribute

• Refurbish/remanufacture

• Recycle

Biological materials:

• Return safely to the biosphere

• Regeneration through biological cycles (e.g. composting, biogas, anaerobic digestion)

Core idea of the loops

The loops create iterative processes where products and materials repeatedly cycle through the system instead of becoming waste.

Inner loops (repair/reuse) are usually more sustainable because they preserve more product value and require less energy than recycling.

Goals

• Minimise waste and pollution

• Reduce raw material extraction

• Extend product/material life

• Reduce environmental externalities

• Regenerate natural systems where possible

👉 Key idea:
A circular economy replaces linear consumption with continuous material and product loops, treating waste as a design flaw rather than an inevitable outcome.

Industrial Symbiosis

Industrial Symbiosis

Industrial symbiosis occurs when the waste output of one company becomes the raw material input for another company.

Exchanges may include:

• Water

• Information/resources

Benefits

• Reduces waste disposal

• Lowers demand for fresh raw materials

• Improves resource efficiency

• Reduces environmental impact

• Creates mutual economic benefit for participating firms

Strategic importance

• Acts as a foundation for the circular economy

• Encourages collaboration between industries and supply chains

Example

International Synergies Ltd
Founded in the UK in 2003, it created the world’s first national industrial symbiosis network.

👉 Key idea:
Industrial symbiosis links companies through resource-sharing loops, where one firm’s waste becomes another firm’s valuable input, supporting circular economy principles.

Industrial Symbiosis Criteria + Kalundborg Project

Criteria for successful industrial symbiosis

1. Compatible industries (Enterprises must function together)
   Waste outputs from one company must match another company’s resource needs.

2. Geographical proximity
   Companies must be located close together to reduce transport costs and energy losses.

3. Trust and collaboration (Cultural similarity)
   Open communication, shared goals, and long-term relationships are essential.

Kalundborg Project (Denmark)

One of the world’s most famous industrial symbiosis (IS) networks, beginning in 1972 in Kalundborg.

It involves material, water, and energy exchanges between multiple nearby companies, including:

• Ørsted (Asnæs Power Station)

• Novo Nordisk

• Novonesis

• Gyproc

• APM Terminals

👉 Key idea:
The Kalundborg project demonstrates how nearby companies can collaboratively exchange waste, energy, and resources to reduce environmental impact and improve efficiency through industrial symbiosis.

Tools for Sustainability Assessments

Environmental sustainability assessment tools are used to evaluate the environmental impacts of products, processes, and industrial systems.

Two common tools:

1. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
   Analyses environmental impacts across the full product lifecycle, from raw material extraction to disposal/recycling.

2. EcoAudit
   Estimates energy use and carbon footprint across key lifecycle stages such as material production, manufacture, transport, use, and disposal.

Purpose of sustainability assessment tools

• Identify environmental hotspots

• Compare alternative designs/processes

• Reduce energy, waste, and emissions

• Support sustainable engineering and business decisions

👉 Key idea:
Sustainability assessment tools help industries measure and reduce environmental impacts throughout the lifecycle of products and processes.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

What is LCA?

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a method used to evaluate the environmental impacts of a product or process across its entire lifecycle.

Typical lifecycle stages

• Raw material extraction

• Material conversion

• Component manufacture

• Assembly/manufacture

• Use phase

• Disposal/recycling

Each stage involves:

• Energy use

• Materials

• Infrastructure

• Transport/services

• Waste and emissions

Main stages of an LCA

1. Establish a precise goal and scope

2. Map out the life cycle

3. Populate the life cycle model with data

4. Compile the results

5. Reflect ‘functionality’ when expressing results

6. Interpret the findings

7. Act on the results

8. (Critical review)

System boundary

A key part of LCA is deciding what processes are included in the assessment.

👉 Key idea:
LCA evaluates environmental impact across the full product lifecycle, helping identify where the greatest energy use, emissions, waste, or resource consumption occur.

What is EcoAudit?

EcoAudit is a simplified sustainability assessment tool used to estimate energy use or carbon footprint across major lifecycle stages.

Five key lifecycle stages

1. Material production

2. Product manufacture

3. Product use

4. Transport

5. Product disposal

Dominant impacts vary by product

• Material production: often dominant for infrastructure/material-heavy products

• Manufacture: important for energy-intensive production

• Use phase: dominant for cars and appliances

• Disposal: important for hazardous or difficult-to-recycle materials

Purpose

• Compare design alternatives

• Identify environmental hotspots

• Support sustainable product design decisions

👉 Key idea:
EcoAudit focuses on where energy and carbon impacts occur across a product lifecycle to help improve sustainability and reduce environmental impact.