Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy: Towards a Wasteless Future or a Wasteful Planet? (International Solid Waste Association)

How the marriage of Industry 4.0 and the Circular Economy can radically transform waste managementand our worldDo we really have to make a choice between a wasteless and nonproductive world or a wasteful and ultimately self-destructive one? Futurist and world-renowned waste management scientist Antonis Mavropoulos and sustainable business developer and digital strategist Anders Nilsen respond with a ringing and optimistic No! They explore the Earth-changing potential of a happy (and wasteless) marriage between Industry 4.0 and a Circular Economy that couldwith properly reshaped waste management practicesdeliver transformative environmental, health, and societal benefits. This book is about the possibility of a brand-new world and the challenges to achieve it.The fourth industrial revolution has given us innovations including robotics, artificial intelligence, 3D-printing, and biotech. By using these technologies to advance the Circular Economywhere industry produces more durable materials and runs on its own byproductsthe waste management industry will become a central element of a more sustainable world and can ensure its own, but well beyond business as usual, future. Mavropoulos and Nilsen look at how this can be achieveda wasteless world will require more waste managementand examine obstacles and opportunities such as demographics, urbanization, global warming, and the environmental strain caused by the rise of the global middle class. Explore the new prevention, reduction, and elimination methods transforming waste management Comprehend and capitalize on the business implications for the sector Understand the theory via practical examples and case studies Appreciate the social benefits of the new approachWaste-management has always been vital for the protection of health and the environment. Now it can become a crucial role model in showing how Industry 4.0 and the Circular Economy can converge to ensure flourishing, sustainableand much brighterfuture.