Abstract
Abstract
The components of industrial ecology are (
1
) the use of renewable, sustainable inputs, (
2
) optimal material and energy utilization with the elimination of waste, and (
3
) the use of recovered materials and discarded energy from society or other industries being used back in the supply chain and manufacturing process (industrial symbiosis). If industrial ecology encompasses all activities from the extraction of natural resources to the development and issuance of a final product, industrial symbiosis is the third part of that equation, using wastes or by‐products as inputs to the manufacturing process thereby reducing the need for extraction from natural sources. The circular economy is the interface between general society (ie, consumers) and their use of manufactured goods, and an industry that will need to utilize the materials of discarded products in manufacturing of new products.