Thinking in industrial ecology terms may also help improve resource productivity by enabling a firm to redefine a product and increase its value to customers. Within the Value Chain. A firm can unearth hidden sources of opportunities by reducing costs up or down the chain of production. By looking at the interdependence between the production and distribution processes and their potential synergies, industrial ecology can help overcome obstacles to more efficient resource use. Beyond the Chain of Production.
Industrial ecology offers an opportunity to raise resource productivity.
This is by closing loops in conjunction with other industrial facilities in close physical proximity but outside of one's own production chain. Benefits of IE to the Company 1. Revenue Generation Companies are sometimes unaware that their by-products have market value and can be sold rather than disposed of. Most manufacturing sectors have had little incentive to investigate by-product exchanges, or to invest in technologies that will facilitate such exchanges. The sharing of materials, energy, and water can yield significant costs often with little or no capital investment.