industrial waste is disposed of at uncontrolled sites, and a quarter reported dumping industrial waste in the oceans (International Maritime Organization, 1995). As I will argueand then illustrate with specific reference to building materialsgreen economic development involves a drastic transformationand downsizingof these troublesome sectors. Sustainability depends, on one hand, on moving the bulk of extraction industry from the hinterlands to the cities where waste must be turned into a resource; and on the other hand, the gradual displacement of petrochemicals by biochemicals and by more natural, less highly-processed regional materials.