ESM 282: IndustrialEcology

Draft Syllabus, Winter 2013

Time & Room:Mondays & Wednesdays, 2:30am-3:45am,Bren Hall 1424

No class on 21 January and 18 February (both Mondays)

Reading:Absolutely necessary

(willconduct reading quizzes which are part of class participation)

Assignments:There will be 4 assignments

Exams:There will be no midterm, but a final exam

Instructor:Roland Geyer,Bren Hall 3426, extension 7234,

Office hours:Mondays & Wednesdays, 3:45am-4:45pm

LCA Readings:

  • Guinée J B (Ed.) (2002) Handbook on Life Cycle Assessment, Operational Guide to the ISO Standards, Kluwer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, Part 3: Scientific Background
  • EPA (2006) Life Cycle Assessment: Principles and Practice, EPA/600/R-06/060, May 2006, US EPA Cincinnati, OH

Both are available on the course website. Unfortunately, Guinée (2002) cannot be printed.

Date / Topics & Readings
Session 1: Introduction to Industrial Ecology
January7 / Topics:
  • History and definition of Industrial Ecology
  • Course content and grading
  • Case study: Beverage containers

Session 2: Life Cycle AssessmentI
January 9 / Topics:
  • History and definition of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
  • Goal and scope definition
  • Inventory analysis
Hand out 1st assignment
Reading:
  • FroschGallopoulos (1989) Strategies for Manufacturing, Scientific American 261(3):144-152

Session 3: Life Cycle Assessment II
January 14 / Topics:
  • Co-production, allocation
  • System expansion
Reading:
  • EkvallFinnveden (2001) Allocation in ISO 14041 – a critical review, J. of Cleaner Production 9(2001): 197-208
  • EPA (2006) Life Cycle Assessment: Principles and Practice, EPA/600/R-06/060, US EPA Cincinnati, OH, pages 28-45

Session 4: Life Cycle Assessment III
January 16 / Topics:
  • Process versus Input/Output LCA
  • Attributional versus consequential LCA
Hand in 1st assignment
Reading:
  • EkvallWeidema (2004) System boundaries and input data in consequential life cycle inventory analysis, Int J LCA 9(3): 161-171
  • Hendrickson et al. (1998) Economic Input-Output Models for Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment, Env. Sci. & Tech. 32: 184A-191A

Session 5: Life Cycle Assessment IV
January23 /
  • Classification and characterization
  • Normalization and valuation
Reading:
  • EPA (2006) Life Cycle Assessment: Principles and Practice, EPA/600/R-06/060, US EPA Cincinnati, OH, pages 46-60
  • Jolliet et al. (2004) The LCIA Midpoint-damage Framework of the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative, Int. Journal of LCA, 9(6): 394-404

Session 6: Guest speaker
January28 / Jill Dumain
Director of Environmental Analysis, Patagonia
Reading:
  • Patagonia’s Footprint Chronicles:
  • Outdoor Industry Association’s Eco Index:

Session 7: Materials in the Economy I
January30 / Topics:
  • Material Flow Analysis (MFA)
  • The U.S. lead and copper cycles
Hand out 2nd assignment
Reading:
  • Materials, A report of the U.S. Interagency Working Group on Industrial Ecology, Material and Energy Flows, 1998, Washington, DC

Session 8: Materials in the Economy II
February 4 / Topics:
  • The three pollution prevention principles
  • Material substitution
  • Case study: biopolymers
Reading:
  • Materials in the Economy: Material Flows, Scarcity the Environment, L. A. Wagner, USGS Circular 1221, 2002, USGS, Denver, CO
  • KuczenskiGeyer (2010) Life Cycle Assessment of Yogurt Cups made from PS and Ingeo PLA, for Stonyfield Farms, Londonderry, NH

Session 9: Reuse and Recycling I
February6 / Topics:
  • Definitions and terminology
  • Analysis framework for reuse and recycling
  • Typical constraints on reuse and recycling
Hand in 2nd assignment
Reading:
  • Geyer & Jackson (2004) Supply Loops and their Constraints: The Industrial Ecology of Recycling and Reuse, Cal.Man. Rev. 46(2), 55-73
  • Eurometaux (2006) Recycling Rates for Metals, Eurometaux, Bruxelles, Belgium

Session 10: Reuse and Recycling II Supply Chain Management (selling function, not products)
February 11 / Topics:
  • Environmental assessment of reuse and recycling
  • Reuse case studies
  • Recycling case studies
Reading:
  • Davis et al. (2007) Time-dependent MFA of iron and steel in the UK, Part 2, Resources, Conservation & Recycling 51(2007), 118-140

Session 11: Industrial Ecosystems
February 13 / Topics:
  • Introduction to the industrial symbiosis
  • Case study: Kalundborg
Hand out 3rd assignment
Reading:
  • EhrenfeldGertler (1997) Industrial Ecology in Practice: The Evolution of Interdependence at Kalundborg, J. of Ind. Ecol. 1(1), 67-79

Session 12: Supply Chain Management (selling function, not products)
February 20 / Topics:
  • Process-based vs. agent-based perspective
  • Supply chain coordination
  • Servicizing
Hand in3rd assignment
Reading:
  • Reiskin et al. (2000) Servicizing the Chemical Supply Chain, J. of Ind. Ecol. 2(2&3), 19-31

Session 13: Environmental Cost Accounting
February 25 / Topics:
  • Case study: compact fluorescent lightbulbs
  • What are environmental costs?
  • Resource Productivity
  • Waste reduction
Reading:
  • Eckelmanet al. (2008) Spatial Assessment of Net Mercury Emissions from the Use of Fluorescent Bulbs,ES&T 42(22), 8564-8570

Session 14: Environmental Policy
February 27 / Topics:
  • From pollution control to integrated product policy
  • Extended producer responsibility
  • Case study: The European WEEE and ROHS Directives
Reading:
  • EU Directive 2002/96/EC on waste electrical and electronic equipment
  • EU Directive 2002/95/EC on restriction of use of hazardous substances

Session 15: Environmental Product Design I
March4 / Topics:
  • Material choice, Trade-off between production and use phase
  • Case study: Vehicle light-weighting
Reading:
  • Geyer (2008) Parametric assessment of climate change impacts of automotive material substitution, ES&T, 42(18), 6973-6979

Session 16: Environmental Product Design II
March6 / Topics:
  • Product end-of-life management
  • Case study: Cell Phones
Hand out 4th assignment
Reading:
  • IPP Pilot Project – Stage II Final Report: Options for Improving Life-Cycle Environmental Performance of Mobile Phones, Nokia, 2005

Session 17: Sustainable Consumption
March11 / Topics:
  • Production versus consumption
  • Eco-efficiency versus economic growth
  • The green consumer
  • Green procurement
Reading:
  • Jackson (2005) Live better by consuming less? Is there a “double dividend’ in sustainable consumption?, J. of Ind. Ecol. 9(1-2), 19-36

Session 18: Green Business Models
March13 / Topics:
  • Win-win or double-dividends
  • What’s a green product or a green business?
  • Environmental product declarations
Hand in 4th assignment
Reading:
  • Reinhardt(1999) Bringing the Environment Down to Earth, HBR, July-August 1999, 149-157
  • Geyer & DuBuisson (2009) A Life Cycle-Based Framework for Environmental Assessments of Eco-Entrepreneurship, 53-78 in: Frontiers in Eco Entrepreneurship Research, Libecap G D (Ed.), Bingley, UK

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