The notion that industrial systems can be redesigned to reflect ‘lessons from nature’ has led to the emergence of a new discipline known as ‘industrial ecology’. In this paper I provide a brief overview of the principles that underpin the discipline, and provide a critical evaluation of the extent to which it is guided by ecology or simply uses the label for rhetorical support. I suggest that simply appealing to ecological analogies is not sufficient to ensure that the impacts of industrial activities are reduced. Further, I propose that the technical process of industrial design needs to be embedded in legitimate social processes if social acceptability is to be attained.
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