Thoughts penned by Dr. Poovarasi Balan
15th September 2021
Industrial Ecology is a concept that never failed to impress me since the first day of my teaching sustainable engineering unit. A unique case study of award winning Kalundborg Industrial Park in Denmark is something that was extremely thought provoking which immensely activated my passion for sustainability. Almost perfect for falling at first-sight!!!
Industrial Ecology collectively represent smart concepts revolving around utilisation of waste as a resource. There are several famous quotes attached to it, like, “Why Waste, Waste?”. Built upon important sub-concepts like industrial symbiosis, effective industrial partnership within short distances and innovative culture of using material and energy wastes, Industrial Ecology is an important concept that can reduce carbon foot-prints of many industries put together. This is exactly what the rest of the world needs!!!
Life cycle assessment is another integrated tool for a product or process, beginning from its inception to ways of responsible consumption until disposal; invoking the birth of smart and efficient design of any manufacturing process or product. Materials recycling is something that can be easily embedded in both the concepts – life cycle assessment (LCA) and industrial ecology (I.E).
Enlisted here is our next exciting project, creatively intertwined between Industrial Ecology, Life Cycle Assessment and Materials Recycling concepts. The class of CHE3163 2021 (Sustainable Processing 1) were assigned to produce short-science documentary-like video integrating any two concepts in food and beverage industry.
The curated work is a result of effective task design, continuous guidance, constructive feedback and unlimited passion. This project is a combined effort of unique minds but united hearts of teacher-students’ relationship, in a big shout out to sustainability education for aspiring engineers and general public.
With our best interest at heart, we would like to champion and advocate the implementation of I.E and LCA through our educational platform. Trust us, this is a mind-blowing concept, best used by engineers, policy makers, industrialists and anyone with relevance!!! Everything starts with transformation in thinking!
The End.
DR. POOVARASI BALAN - PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
CHE3163 2021 CHEM. ENG. COHORT
Brintha Vijaya Kumar
Aagney Menon
Shobita Gunasegaran
Safeiya Mustafa Hussain