ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: Economics, environment and social issues are the three themes that cover sustainability. However, is sustainability a vision, an ultimate goal or a utopian society? Sustainability can also be seen as an operational strategy. There is a request for product systems and end-of-life management. Landfill sites are becoming full, new lifecycle legislation will be implemented to limit the material flows to landfill, and emission of toxic materials to the air, land and sea will be terminated or significantly reduced. There are many important actors in this area; manufacturing and re-manufacturing companies, recyclers and policymakers and there are also several end-of-life options: reuse (parts and products); recycling (materials); energy production from incineration; energy production without incineration; and landfill. This paper tries to set this scope into a systematic industrial approach.
