ABSTRACT
This chapter looks the perspective of environmental issues and to link them to the broader issues of resource management that industrial ecology actually deals with. In developing countries, instead of framing environment management plans based on a strategy of just limiting harmful emissions from industrial activity, it may be more appropriate to develop plans that would optimise use of resources. An aspect that is essential to consider while addressing issues of developing economies is the extremely limited resources at the disposal of the poorer sections of the population. Resources such as land, water and energy are very scarce capital and every effort has to be made to maximise the benefits to society from the use of this limited capital. A new system of valuation and pricing of scarce resources could be found that would take into account the availability of the resource in the region and that would reflect the intrinsic value of the resource to the specific society.
