Abstract

This talk will describe an extensive research project focused on studies of the stocks and flows of materials in the industrialised society, especially in very large cities and in environmentally sensitive regions. Aspects of resource availability, potential environmental impacts, opportunities for recycling and reuse, and resource policy initiatives will be explored.

Thomas Graedel is Clifton R. Musser Professor of Industrial Ecology, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Professor of Geology and Geophysics, and Director of the Centre for Industrial Ecology at Yale University. Professor Graedel was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering for “outstanding contributions to the theory and practice of industrial ecology, 2002”. His research is centred on developing and enhancing industrial ecology, the organizing framework for the study of the interactions of the modern technological society with the environment. His textbook, Industrial Ecology, co-written with B. R. Allenby of AT&T, was the first book in the field and is now in its second edition. His current interests include studies of the flows of materials within the industrial ecosystem and the development of analytical tools to assess the environmental characteristics of products, processes, the service industry, and urban infrastructures.