Abstract
The industrial energy efficiency in the UK is improved through a government backed closed-loop economy model, which focuses on reducing flows of materials through the economy. In this direction, it is shown that elementary material balances can yield reductions in energy use, outweighing potential savings from improving the energy efficiency of industrial processes. Extending product life represents a reversal of current trends, it requires behavioral change even more than changes in technology or product design. The current approach, in the UK and various other places, is to tax labor rather than use of non-renewable resources, representing economic pressure in diametrically the wrong direction. Closed-loop material use along with industrial symbiosis - co-locating or connecting industries so that a waste or co-product from one becomes an input to another.