Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy / International Solid Waste Association (ePub)

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.