Industrial ecology, life cycles, supply chains: differences and interrelations

Abstract

Within recent years, various concepts have arisen in environmental management that directly address the flow of material (and information) along life cycles or supply chains and thereby relate to inter‐organizational management aspects. These include industrial ecology (IE), life‐cycle management, closed‐loop supply chains, integrated chain management and green/environmental or sustainable supply chain management. It is not clear how these concepts relate to each other and whether or how they are different. Starting with sustainable development three criteria are identified that allow the comparison of the four concepts. Building on definitions the concepts are discussed and analysed using the three criteria while also identifying a distinctive feature of each approach. The criteria reveal that the concepts take a specific approach to study material flows in their particular system boundaries. This also relates to the time frame usually applied within the concept as well as the relevant actor network taken into account. Beyond these differences, it arises that the concepts have their strengths on different levels, which leads to a framework for the interrelation of the concepts. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.