Journal article
A virtuous circle
The environmental forum, v 33(5), pp 30-33
2016
Abstract
The unsustainable consumption of natural resources translates into environmental degradation and increased business risk. Economic growth and raw materials need to be decoupled. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency, states, and other stakeholders have adopted sustainable materials management (SMM) to address the challenge of advancing sustainable use of materials within society. SMM uses lifecycle analysis and systems thinking as a way to identify adverse environmental and other effects and then to reduce them. SMM casts a far broader net than approaches based on traditional end-of-life waste management and pollution management. SMM allows for more strategic use of resources and better outcomes. Without considering the entire lifecycle, negative effects can be shifted from one type of impact to another. SMM also offers a new view on climate change. When taking a life-cycle-based perspective, materials and land management account for more than 40 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. In 2001, EPA collaborated with stakeholders, including the electronics industry, and determined that the development of voluntary standards would challenge companies to meet industry leading sustainability measures. The effort resulted in the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool, which is now a global rating system that helps purchasers identify environmentally preferable electronics products. On an international level, the G7 Alliance on Resource Efficiency was established to share best practices on using natural resources more efficiently.
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Details
- Title
- A virtuous circle
- Creators
- Mathy Vathanaraj Stanislaus - Environmental Protection Agency
- Publication Details
- The environmental forum, v 33(5), pp 30-33
- Number of pages
- 4
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 991022025538104721