Abstract

As an emerging field, industrial ecology has a long list of areas where research and development are needed. Experimental industrial ecology needs to complete a set of analytical tools. Applied objectives can be fulfilled through maintaining the progress of design for environment, developing the policy-related aspects of industrial ecology, and promoting industrial ecology in developing countries. The tasks are substantial, but carrying them out is likely to provide a crucial framework for society in the next few decades, as we seek to reconcile our use of Earth's resources with the ultimate sustainability of the planet and its inhabitants, human and otherwise.