Hershkowitz’s lecture is scheduled for Nov. 9, 3-4:30 p.m., second floor of the NJIT campus center ballroom. The campus center is located south of the intersection of Summit Street and Central Avenue. The lecture is free, open to the public and parking is available.

Hershkowitz will detail the economic, political and cultural barriers to sustainable industrial development. One example he will discuss is an eight-year effort to develop a $600 million facility to produce recycled newsprint in New York City. The project, known as the Bronx Community Paper Company, tried to wed sustainable industrial development with market-based environmentalism. Good intentions alone cannot counter the ruthless reality of market forces, he says, and if the United States is to compete with countries with fewer environmental regulations it must develop superior and profitable sustainable technologies.

Hershkowitz specializes in sustainable development issues, especially industrial ecology, solid-waste management, recycling, medical wastes and sludge. He has served on many advisory and regulatory bodies throughout the United States and Central America and has advised municipalities, legislative bodies, trade groups and environmental organizations. He also advises socially responsible investment funds.

Hershkowitz’s lecture is the third in NJIT’s 2005 Technology and Society Forum Series. The forums explore the connections between the technological expertise that students study in the classroom and the real-world geo-political issues that affect the quality of human life.