Current economic growth is unsustainable and it is necessary that our society develops new production and consumption strategies for long term sustainability. The industrial ecology concept (IE) can contribute to this aim.
This book represents a step towards the application of the IE concept. Two case studies of industrial activities (slaughterhouses and tanneries) are here examined by implementing different tools and methods - such as Life Cycle Assessment and Social Network Analysis - according to an inter-disciplinary approach. As a result, the authors delineate a series of proposals with the aim of improving the environmental performance of the industries studied according to the IE concept.

Dr. Rita Puig is chemical engineer and PhD on organic chemistry. Her research interests cover environmental issues, specifically Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Industrial Ecology (IE). She is author of the first book on LCA methodology written in Spanish language. She is Director of the Igualada College of Industrial Engineering (Technical University of Catalonia, Spain).
Bruno Notarnicola graduated in Economics and has a Ph.D. in Commodity Science from the University of Bari. He is currently Professor of Commodity Science at the II Faculty of Economics of the University of Bari. His main research interests cover the methodology development and the application of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). He is the author of over than seventy publications.
Andrea Raggi is a Professor in Industrial Ecology and related disciplines at the Faculty of Economics, University "G. d'Annunzio", Pescara, Italy. He has several years experience in research activities in the environmental management field and in issues related to Industrial Ecology (esp.: life-cycle-based tools and approaches). He is the author of over than 90 publications.