The manufacturing sector presents many opportunities for sustainable business where product lifecycles can be transformed to cut waste, harmful chemicals and carbon emissions, as well as promoting fair work practices.

Much of this website contains relevant information to the manufacturing sector but here are a few handpicked resources.

For a summary on sustainable manufacturing visit the US Environmental Protection Agency here.

Biomimicry is a well-known approach to design and manufacturing which innovates by drawing on nature. The term was first coined by Janine Benyus.

Interface is a company which has led on sustainability for decades. It produces flooring products and now looks to Biomimcry to guide its work.

Scientia Professor Veena Sahajwalla is the leader of research into Sustainable Materials as the Director of Sustainable Materials Research & Technology (SMaRT@UNSW) at the University of New South Wales. She holds an ARC Future Fellowship. Veena is an international award winning scientist and engineer who has presented on her research and experiences throughout the world. In 2005, she received the Eureka Prize for Scientific Research. She also received the 2006 Environmental Technology Award from the Association of Iron & Steel Technology in the United States for her research into recycling waste plastics in steelmaking. Here’s a popular Tedx Talk she gave in 2011.

The CSIRO has a webpage about sustainable farming systems here.

The University of Massachusetts’, Lowell Centre for Sustainable Production provides an array of information.

Eco-efficiency’s Manufacturing Fact Sheets can be found here.