Introduction to the special issue on Advances in Life-Cycle Approachesto Business and Resource Management in the Asia-Pacific Region

This special issue of the Journal of Cleaner Production was initiated as a result of the 5th and 6th meetings of the Asia Pacific Roundtable for Sustainable Consumption and Production (APRSCP), which were held in Melbourne, Australia and Hanoi, Vietnam, respectively. A need identified at those meetings was to create another means of communicating the best ideas and papers being presented, to a wider audience. The Asia Pacific region has special development needs given its rapid emergence as a global production hub, but coupled to that are also the rapid social adjustments and shifts in patterns of consumption and production which aren't positive for the environment. This special issue contains eight papers covering the implementation of cleaner production and life cycle principles at the systems and regional planning level. These articles cover urban development, corporate CP programs, supply chain management, eco-industrial networks, and industrial parks, recycling, and understanding the role of human factors in bringing about environmental change.