1
Compiled by Dr. Joe Herbertson
June 2001
Sustainable Resource
Processing
The
Underlying Approach
The analysis is anchored
on the coping capacity of natural systems and is placed in the context of
the overall material supply chain, not at the individual enterprise level
•the concern is sustaining the ability
to satisfy society’s material needs within nature’s limits
[defensible], rather than sustaining existing industry configurations
[defensive]
•it helps provide a common
philosophical thread across mining, processing, manufacturing, albeit that
each sector has distinctive challenges
•it is a favorable context
for technical and business innovation
•it assumes collective
responsibility by consumers and producers
•our socio-economic activities are
fundamentally linked to nature, and an analysis based on ecological
sustainable development leads directly to quite profound social and
economic implications