Journal of Industrial Ecology

Edited by:
  • David Allen &
  • John Ehrenfeld
MIT Press. 4/yr. $95 (institutional); $40 (personal)

The business world of the twenty-first century is likely to be shaped by now-familiar forces, including rapid technology development, greater openness and vitality in political systems, and rampant globalization. At the same time, a second set of forces has the power to strongly affect the direction it takes. These ‘sustainability drivers’, fuelled by increasing world population and declining living systems, may be the least appreciated, least understood set of threats and opportunities facing business.

Industrial ecology is a discipline that provides for exploring this territory and exploiting this new set of opportunities. While the term ‘industrial ecology’ has been around for over ten years, this is essentially a new field. And like any new field, it has the potential for either bringing clarity and focus to significant issues or becoming mired in jargon and academic debate. For industrial ecology to be a useful part of sustainability solutions, the scientific, government and business communities will need to speak the same language, based not on self-interest and emotion but rather on common interests and logic.

The Journal of Industrial Ecology takes a major step in bringing clarity to a potentially very confusing topic. The quarterly journal, launched in the winter of 1997, offers a thoughtful and comprehensive, yet accessible venue for exploring the potential role of industry and government in reducing the environmental burdens throughout the product life cycle, from extraction of raw materials, to the production of goods, to the use of those goods and to the management of the resulting wastes.

Several factors distinguish this journal. It is timely, for to think about issues of sustainability as the next century dawns is both prudent and ethical. Its global perspective brings fresh and balanced voices to a sometimes parochial discussion. Finally, it is both very readable and very well edited, with the articles fitting together more like a puzzle than a melange of individual contributions.

Not to be read only once or in one sitting, this journal is an important reference for those interested in how business and government can maintain the benefits of the first industrial revolution while dramatically reducing the burden those benefits place on the underlying living systems that need to be sustained during the next industrial revolution.