Sustainable Development Through Dematerialization and Industrial Transformation:
a conceptual framework and research implications

Abstract

This paper deals with the dematerialization of firm performance. The dematerialization concept is briefly introduced, including its roots and key research activities. Based on this introduction, a broad framework is proposed of how to implement this concept on the firm level. The main channel through which this can be realized is innovation based on the assessment of material flows and corresponding possibilities of reduction.
The basic framework of dematerialization in the firm is, in a second step, auto-criticized and solutions as well as research implications are proposed. The three major points of criticism concern technology as the only way to dematerialize, firms' aversion against change, and the concept of the firm as limiting thorough dematerialization of the industrial society. Proposed fields of necessary research include eco-efficient services, sustainable consumption, inter-firm-cooperation, qualitative research on different kinds of firms, and multi-actor analyses.

Keywords
Dematerialization, industrial ecology, firms, innovation

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