Sustainable manufacturing overview

CSIRO is developing technologies in several areas of sustainable manufacturing, particularly cleaner processes.

• 31 May 2005 | Updated 14 October 2011

• Our research
• Industry and ecology

CSIRO assists Australian manufacturing firms to maintain both market competitiveness and licence-to-operate in today's increasingly constrained environmental framework.

Our research

We research eco-efficient technologies and engineering practices to enhance the productivity of resources and minimise environmental burdens.

Specific research areas include:

• technologies to reduce emissions and energy use in the extractive and process industries
• cleaner metal production
• sustainable manufacturing systems for light metal products
• remediation and prevention technologies for corrosion
• electro-biochemical biosensors
• engineering and computational techniques for analysing and modelling whole-of-life performance of infrastructure systems
• technologies for industrial waste management and recycling
• using plants as ‘bio-factories’ for use in pharmaceuticals or industrial raw materials.

Industry and ecology

The key drivers for sustainable manufacturing in Australia are:

• international standards and protocols
• compliance with regulations
• community expectations of the impact of production and energy use on ecosystems
• risks and liabilities associated with investments
• costs associated with meeting regulatory constraints
• market-competitive, environmentally-benign technologies.

Industrial ecology looks at industrial business systems in association with their economic, social and ecological systems. This is a strongly emerging concept that can assist the development of sustainable manufacturing. 

CSIRO combines a range of technical solutions to assist the development of cleaner manufacturing processes and products in Australia. 

Find out more about sustainable manufacturing.