ABSTRACT

Chemicals and the chemical industry have become an extremely important part of the economies of many countries. The European Union ranks as the largest producer of chemicals, accounting for 31% of global production, with more than 60% of European production being concentrated in four countries— Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Italy. The basis of the industrial ecology approach is that an analogy can be drawn between the way our industrialised society functions and the way that a natural ecosystem works. According to Tibbs, 'Industrial ecology involves designing industrial infrastructures as if they were a series of interlocking man-made ecosystems interfacing with the natural global ecosystem. The cleaner production approach looks for ways to reduce the risks to humans and the environment arising from production processes by conserving raw materials and energy, eliminating toxic raw materials and reducing the quantity and the toxicity of all emissions and wastes.