chemical and thermal processes. The materials are converted into finished materials like fuels, refined metals and alloys, and industrial chemicals which will in turn be used by secondary manufacturing industries like textiles, auto manufacturing, etc. Primary processing includes smelting of ores, cracking petroleum and cement production. By and large, it is very dirty and energy-intensive work, generating massive amounts of waste by-products. Four primary materials processing industriesmetals, chemicals, paper and plasticsgenerate 71 percent of the USs toxic air releases (Geiser, 2001, p. 6). And the energy used by the paper, steel, aluminium, plastics, and container glass industries account for fully 31 percent of US total in manufacturing (Young, 2000; Young & Sachs, 1994). Mining and smelting take an estimated 5 to 10 percent of world energy use each year (Durning, 1992). According to Stahel (1981), about three-quarters of all industrial energy consumption is associated with the extraction or processing of basic materials like steel and cement, while only about one quarter is used in the transformation of materials into finished goods such as machines or buildings. The converse is true of labour, with about three times as much work being employed in the conversion of materials to finished products as is required in the production of materials. Thus simply altering the balance between primary (and extractive) industry and secondary manufacturing has tremendous implications for job creation. Going a step beyond thattowards an increase in ecological transformationtype industries such as reconditioningcorresponds to a massive substitution of creative work for energy and materials. The work done by skilled craftsmen in repair and reutilization industry, it should be noted, is typically done in smaller workshops dispersed