Evaluating waste treatment, recycle and reuse in industrial system: an application of the eMergy approach

This paper deals with the application of emergy analysis of industrial systems in considering wastes. Making process system engineering decisions that are ecologically conscious requires emergy analysis of both industrial and ecological processes. The traditional emergy analysis methods of a natural ecological system usually do not consider the impact of wastes. This paper considers the impact of wastes and improves existing emergy analysis methods for industrial system. A new index of sustainability for industrial processes is presented.