ABSTRACT

Sustainability of the planet depends heavily on the availability of resources. To guide and motivate industries toward sustainable manufacturing, many leading institutions and national governments, across the world, launched programs where interests of profitability could be integrated with the protection of the environment. The requirement of Extended Producer Responsibility emphasized the role of sustainability considerations across the life cycle. In 1992, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development came with the concept of Eco-Efficiency. According to US Environmental Protection Agency, the term “Sustainable manufacturing” is the creation of manufactured products through economically sound processes that minimize negative environmental impacts while conserving energy and natural resources. In the early phase of the sustainability revolution, the business was asking for the “evidence” that would prove that it was profitable to integrate business with environmental and social considerations. Businesses started exploring means to make their processes and products more sustainable.