Sustainable

Production/Manufacturing
 Definition
• Sustainable manufacturing is the creation of manufactured products through
economically-sound processes that minimize negative environmental impacts
while conserving energy and natural resources. Sustainable manufacturing also
enhances employee, community and product safety (Sustainable Manufacturing |
Sustainability | US EPA)
• Sustainable Production is the creation of goods and services using processes and
systems that are non-polluting, conserving of energy and natural resources,
economically viable, safe and healthful for workers, communities, and consumers,
and Socially and creatively rewarding for all working people. If production is
sustainable, then the environment, employees, communities, and organizations—
all benefit. These conditions can lead, always in the long term, and often in the
short term, to more economically viable and productive enterprises. The
conceptual spark of sustainable production lies in valuing longer-term
consequences and benefits over short-term profits. Organizations can thrive by
investing in well-designed safer products, resource efficient technologies and
processes, and trained and empowered employees. (Sustainable Production
Defined | Lowell Center for Sustainable Production | UMass Lowell (uml.edu)
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• Sustainable manufacturing (SM) or green manufacturing can be defined as
a method for manufacturing that minimises waste and reduces the
environmental impact.
• These goals are to be obtained mainly by adopting practices that will
influence the product design, process design and operational principles.
• Therefore, sustainable manufacturing may be defined as a system that
integrates product and process design issues with issues of manufacturing,
planning and control in such a manner as to identify, quantify, assess, and
manage the flow of environmental waste with the goal of ultimately
reducing the environmental impact to that of the self-recovery capability of
the Earth could deal with while also trying to maximise resource efficiency.
(Sustainable Manufacturing: Principles, Applications and Directions
(industr.com))
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• The Green Suppliers Network (DOC/EPA) defines clean manufacturing as “a
systematic approach to eliminating waste by optimizing use and selection of
resources and technologies, thereby lessening the impact on the
environment.”1
• Sustainable manufacturing focuses on both how the product is made as
well as the product’s attributes. This includes the inputs, the manufacturing
processes, and the product’s design.
• Sustainable manufacturing includes things such as making products using
less energy and materials, producing less waste, and using fewer hazardous
materials as well as products that have greener attributes such as
recyclability or lower energy use.
• Sustainable manufacturing practices can range from very simple process
improvements to large investments in new technologies and product
redesign.
Clean Technologies
• Clean or Environmental Technologies are technologies associated with
things like environmental protection, assessment, compliance with
environmental regulations, pollution control and prevention, waste
management, remediation of contaminated property, design and operation
of environmental infrastructure, and the provision and delivery of
environmental resources.
• Renewable energy technologies are also considered to be clean
technologies.
• Examples of clean technologies include technologies for wastewater
treatment, recycling, solid waste management, solar panels and wind
turbines.
• Many clean technologies can be used to green the manufacturing process
and are therefore important to sustainable manufacturing.
 Green Products
• Making “green products” can be seen as part of sustainable manufacturing, and
we will discuss it in more detail later in the module.
• A green product can be any product that is designed to reduce its environmental
impact. A key concept is that environmental concerns and impacts are taken into
account from the beginning of the product design process. This is important
because most of a product’s environmental impact is determined in the design
phase.
• The product may be made of recycled materials, designed so that it can be easily
recycled, made without hazardous materials, or produced with less packaging.
• There are no accepted standards for what constitutes a “green product,”
although there are rules from the Federal Trade Commission about making
environmental marketing claims.
• There are also many eco-labeling programs that are used to identify and market
green products, some of which are discussed in this module.
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Reference
• https://www.slideshare.net/CircularEconomyAsia/introduction-to-
sustainable-manufacturing
• https://www.epa.gov/sustainability/sustainable-manufacturing
• https://www.industr.com/en/sustainable-manufacturing-principles-
applications-and-directions-2333598
• https://www.oecd.org/innovation/green/toolkit/aboutsustainablema
nufacturingandthetoolkit.htm
• https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJOPM-12-
2013-0557/full/html