From EcoDesign to Industrial Metabolism: Redefinition of Sustainable Innovation and Competitive Sustainability

摘要

Successful enterprises are distinguished by their sustainable development reliant on their ability to learn and develop innovative solutions. Recyc-lability (material and product design) and recycling (process design) emerge as new paradigm for sustainable competitiveness. The paper makes a critical evaluation of the most commonly tools and techniques in use and suggests a redefinition of the concept of EcoDesign by integrating End-of-Life activities to gain industrial metabolism. This approach takes a broader innovation perspective, necessary to construct a sustainable innovation community with material balance of the system. The paper suggests a modular approach as generator for integrating embedded firm specific elements into a renewal networked supply chain.