Closed Loop Systems

What is Clean Production?

• It promotes renewable energy, nontoxic materials in a closed loop and sustainable product design.
• It is rooted within circular concepts of the product life cycle.
• It is based on the Precautionary Principle.

Nontoxic materials and processes are only part of the equation. Those of us living and producing goods in the North need to slow down our nonsustainable use of resources and energy. We need to build for durability and reuse, rather than a quick linear exploitation of materials and energy. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), where producers have a responsibility for their entire product life cycle including the post consumer phase of their product, is one politically feasible way to promote closed loop systems. EPR holds product designers responsible for the environmental and public health impacts of their products. Increasingly, local government officials and consumers realize that the best managers of products at their end-of-life are the same people who designed them in the first place.