''Material Concerns'' is a book by author and economist Tim Jackson. Published in 1996, it pioneered the concept of ''preventive environmental management'', a core principle of the
circular economy
A circular economy (also referred to as circularity and CE) is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. CE aims ...
framework.
Description
Twenty years before the
Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Dame Ellen Patricia MacArthur (born 8 July 1976) is a retired English sailor, from Whatstandwell near Matlock in Derbyshire, now based in Cowes, Isle of Wight.
MacArthur is a successful solo long-distance yachtswoman. On 7 February 2005, ...
established its now widely recognised
circular economy
A circular economy (also referred to as circularity and CE) is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. CE aims ...
mission, Tim Jackson began developing what was called at the time ''preventive environmental management''. The core idea was: prevention is better than cure, "preventing environmental damage at the outset is better than cleaning up after the fact".
''Material Concerns - Pollution, Profit and Quality of Life'' was published in 1996 as a synthesis of his findings in ''Clean Production Strategies – Developing Preventive Environmental Management in the Industrial Economy'', an edited collection drawing chapters from pre-eminent writers in the field, such as Walter R Stahel, Bill Rees, and Bob Costanza.
Rooted in the laws of
thermodynamics
Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed by the four laws of the ...
and explicitly considering the ecological limits of the planet (chapter 8), the driving idea was to move industrial production away from an extractive linear system towards a reconceptualisation of the production cycle from design stage, prefiguring the concept of the
circular economy
A circular economy (also referred to as circularity and CE) is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. CE aims ...
.
The book outlines Tim Jackson's early views on the relationship between human wellbeing and
economic growth
Economic growth can be defined as the increase or improvement in the inflation-adjusted market value of the goods and services produced by an economy in a financial year. Statisticians conventionally measure such growth as the percent rate of ...
''Material Concerns'' was well received in the policy field. "Jackson has filled a near-unique niche in clean production publications with a text that combines great explicatory power with a driving visionary message", Andrew Tickle wrote in the Environmental Policy and Governance Journal.Jonathon Porritt endorsed Jackson's analysis with "incisive and persuasive. His prescriptions are both radical and viable — a rare and powerful combination." "Clear and compelling", wrote Michael Jacobs, a former advisor to UK Treasury and the UK Government, "Jackson provides both the conceptual framework and convincing illustration of the new environmental paradigm of industrial production. In ten years' time all managers will be thinking this way."
Roland Clift
Roland Clift is a chemical engineering professor widely known for his work and media contributions on the topic of sustainability.
Career
Clift was born 19 November 1942 John Benhart from the ''Journal of Cultural Geography'' found it to be: "inspirational … A major strength of the text is integration of the material economy with the ecosystem and thermodynamic system … e author has written a pioneering book fusing environmental economic relationships in a new and needed approach for economic and industrial geography … I plan to use the textbook as a required book for my industrial geography course."
See also
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Circular Economy
A circular economy (also referred to as circularity and CE) is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. CE aims ...
Video Tim Jackson discussing ''Material Concerns'' at
Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Dame Ellen Patricia MacArthur (born 8 July 1976) is a retired English sailor, from Whatstandwell near Matlock in Derbyshire, now based in Cowes, Isle of Wight.
MacArthur is a successful solo long-distance yachtswoman. On 7 February 2005, ...