Upsizing

The Road to Zero Emissions, More Jobs, More Income, and No Pollution

Gunter Pauli

"Zero Emissions, industrial clustering and the other concepts and practices associated with them represent a crucial link in the gradually emerging network of ideas that can lead us out of our crisis."

—Fritjof Capra

"Zero Emissions" has become a definitive term in the debate on sustainable development in the last few years. While considered a utopian target by some, the concept clearly describes what business and industry of the future must aim to achieve. There is no confusion here; the aim is transparent: no pollution and no waste.

Only when industry mimics nature, where nothing is wasted, can it achieve the same levels of material productivity. The world of waste is a world of opportunity. A world where the waste from one process can become the raw material for another—a cascade of new materials once thought worthless supporting new products, new processes and new wealth—as industries that were previously considered unrelated cluster together. A world where new business will be created on an unprecedented scale. This is not just a theory: projects in the agro-business, based on integrated biosystems, are already up and have proved effective.

UpSizing examines how the adoption of the Zero Emissions concept not only radically reduces pollution and waste but can contribute significantly to the generation of income and jobs - specifically for those that need them most: the rural poor in less developed countries.

About the Author

Gunter Pauli, formerly the President of Ecover, was responsible for the construction of Europe's first ecological factory. In 1994, he founded and now directs the Zero Emissions Research Initiative (ZERI). He lectures regularly to business executives and governments on competitive strategies. He has written a number of books and is published in twelve languages.