Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy

Book description

How the marriage of Industry 4.0 and the Circular Economy can radically transform waste management—and our world 

Do we really have to make a choice between a wasteless and nonproductive world or a wasteful and ultimately self-destructive one? Futurist and world-renowned waste management scientist Antonis Mavropoulos and sustainable business developer and digital strategist Anders Nilsen respond with a ringing and optimistic “No!” They explore the Earth-changing potential of a happy (and wasteless) marriage between Industry 4.0 and a Circular Economy that could—with properly reshaped waste management practices—deliver transformative environmental, health, and societal benefits. This book is about the possibility of a brand-new world and the challenges to achieve it.  

The fourth industrial revolution has given us innovations including robotics, artificial intelligence, 3D-printing, and biotech. By using these technologies to advance the Circular Economy—where industry produces more durable materials and runs on its own byproducts—the waste management industry will become a central element of a more sustainable world and can ensure its own, but well beyond business as usual, future. Mavropoulos and Nilsen look at how this can be achieved—a wasteless world will require more waste management—and examine obstacles and opportunities such as demographics, urbanization, global warming, and the environmental strain caused by the rise of the global middle class.  

·         Explore the new prevention, reduction, and elimination methods transforming waste management 

·         Comprehend and capitalize on the business implications for the sector  

·         Understand the theory via practical examples and case studies 

·         Appreciate the social benefits of the new approach 

Waste-management has always been vital for the protection of health and the environment. Now it can become a crucial role model in showing how Industry 4.0 and the Circular Economy can converge to ensure flourishing, sustainable—and much brighter—future.  

 

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Foreword by Ad Lansink
  3. Foreword by Dimitris Kaliampakos
  4. Foreword by Erik Solheim
  5. Series Preface
  6. Preface
  7. About the Authors
  8. About the Graphic Designer
  9. Endorsements
  10. Glossary
    1. REFERENCES
  11. Acronyms
  12. Chapter 1: The End of Business as Usual
    1. 1.1 THE TRILLION‐DOLLAR QUESTION
    2. 1.2 THE FUTURE IS WARMER, URBANIZED, POLLUTED, AND RESOURCE‐HUNGRY
    3. 1.3 IT CAN'T HAPPEN AGAIN
    4. 1.4 IT'S ABOUT PEOPLE, NOT WASTE
    5. 1.5 ABOUT THIS BOOK
    6. REFERENCES
  13. Chapter 2: Understanding Industry 4.0
    1. 2.1 THE FOUR INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTIONS
    2. 2.2 INDUSTRY 4.0
    3. 2.3 MORE WITH LESS AND THE REBOUND EFFECT
    4. 2.4 RADICAL SOLUTIONS TO DIFFICULT PROBLEMS
    5. REFERENCES
  14. Chapter 3: Un(mis)understanding Circular Economy
    1. 3.1 A GLOBAL TREND
    2. 3.2 CIRCULAR ECONOMY COMES FROM OUR PAST
    3. 3.3 WHAT IS A CIRCULAR ECONOMY?
    4. 3.4 FROM GOOD INTENTIONS TO SCIENCE
    5. 3.5 CIRCULARITY IS NOT SUSTAINABILITY
    6. 3.6 THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT
    7. 3.7 THE END OF GROWTH AS WE KNOW IT
    8. 3.8 CIRCULAR ECONOMY FOR WHOM?
    9. 3.9 IT'S HUGE, SYSTEMIC, UNCERTAIN BUT URGENTLY NEEDED
    10. REFERENCES
  15. Chapter 4: Redefining Resources andWaste
    1. 4.1 IND4.0 REDEFINES RESOURCES
    2. 4.2 REDEFINING THE TERM “WASTE”
    3. 4.3 WASTE HIERARCHY: UPGRADED OR OBSOLETE?
    4. 4.4 SORRY, RECYCLING IS NOT CIRCULAR ECONOMY
    5. 4.5 WASTE MANAGEMENT GOES BEYOND WASTE
    6. 4.6 FINAL SINKS DURING THE ANTHROPOCENE
    7. 4.7 CIRCULARITIES FOR MATERIALS‐ LINEARITIES FOR PEOPLE
    8. REFERENCES
  16. Chapter 5: Waste Management 4.0
    1. 5.1 PERCEPTIONS AND REALITY
    2. 5.2 HARDWARE IN WASTE MANAGEMENT
    3. 5.3SOFTWARE IN WASTE MANAGEMENT
    4. 5.4 SELECTED CASE STUDIES
    5. 5.5 THE VALUE OF OPENNESS
    6. REFERENCES
  17. Chapter 6: Towards the Digitalization of the Waste Industry
    1. 6.1 FROM WASTE MANAGEMENT TO RESOURCE INNOVATION
    2. 6.2 LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
    3. 6.3 EXPLORATION VERSUS EXPLOITATION
    4. 6.4 FROM DIGITALIZATION TO NEW BUSINESS MODELS
    5. 6.5 DEMOCRATIZING TECHNOLOGY
    6. REFERENCES
  18. Chapter 7: The Rise of a NewScience
    1. 7.1 THE RISE OF URBAN INFORMATICS
    2. 7.2 ISLANDS OF INFORMATION IN OCEANS OF BIG DATA
    3. 7.3 THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
    4. 7.4 FROM CITIES AS MACHINES TO CITIES AS ORGANISMS
    5. 7.5 CIRCULAR ECONOMY: DIGITIZED OR DEAD
    6. REFERENCES
  19. Chapter 8: Stairway to Heavenor Highway to Hell?
    1. 8.1 CIRCULAR ECONOMY OR SPACE RACE?
    2. 8.2 CIRCULAR ECONOMY AND IND4.0 AS ESSENTIALLY CONTESTED CONCEPTS
    3. 8.3 SQUEEZING IND4.0 – UNDERMINING CIRCULAR ECONOMY
    4. 8.4 GOVERNANCE IS THE KEY – CITIES ARE THE LOCK
    5. 8.5 BEYOND BUSINESS AS USUAL OPTIMIZATION
    6. 8.6 ENVIRONMENTAL INCREMENTALISM? NO, THANKS
    7. 8.7 IND4.0 MEETS THE HORSE MANURE CRISIS
    8. 8.8 NO SANITATION = NO SUSTAINABILITY
    9. 8.9 ASK SISYPHUS THE TRILLION‐DOLLAR QUESTION
    10. REFERENCES
  20. Epilogue: The Future Starts with You
  21. Epilogue: Towards Irreversible Wastelands
  22. Index
  23. End User License Agreement

Product information

  • Title: Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy
  • Author(s): Antonis Mavropoulos, Anders Waage Nilsen
  • Release date: November 2020
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9781119699279