1. Ecologically sustainable industrial parks: An oxymoron?
Raymond Cote
Professor Emeritus
and Senior Fellow
Eco-Efficiency Centre
Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
Presented at University of Alberta
September 2010

2. Outline of presentation
Rationale for a new model
Terminology
EIP or IS models
EIP standards
Characteristics of EIPs
Guidance for planners and designers
References
This presentation is based on my experience during the past 16 years.

3. “The world we have created today as a result of our thinking thus far, has problems which cannot be solved by thinking the way we thought when we created them.” Albert Einstein
I think we have to acknowledge that we cannot continue with “business as usual” . As suggested by McDonough and Braungart we need to rethink the way we do things.

4. Why ecological sustainability?
“Over the past 50 years, humans have changed ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than in any comparable period of time in human history
This has resulted in a substantial and largely irreversible loss in the diversity of life on Earth
The changes that have been made to ecosystems have contributed to substantial net gains in human well-being and economic development
But these gains have been achieved at growing costs that, unless addressed, will substantially diminish the benefits that future generations obtain from ecosystems.”
UN Millenium Ecosystem Assessment

5. Status of Ecosystem Services
UN Millenium Ecosystem Assessment

6. Our current industrial system
appears to have been designed to:
“ put billions of pounds of toxic materials into the air, water and soil every year,
produce materials so dangerous that they will require constant vigilance from future generations,
result in gigantic amounts of waste,
put valuable materials in holes all over the planet, where they cannot be easily retrieved,
require thousands of complex regulations – not to keep people and natural systems safe, but rather to keep them from being poisoned too quickly,
measure productivity by how few people are working,
create prosperity by digging up or cutting down natural resources and then burying or burning them,
erode the diversity of species and cultural practices.”
McDonough and Braungart,2002

7. Nature as model
Renewable energy is the main source of power for living systems
In natural systems, there is no waste in the sense of matter that cannot be recycled or absorbed constructively
Concentrated toxic materials are generated and used locally
A major portion of the energy flows in a system are consumed in decomposition processes that make nutrients available
Ecosystems are resilient and relatively stable because of the biodiversity of species organized in complex web of relationships
Each individual of a species in an ecosystem acts independently, yet its activity patterns mesh cooperatively with those of other species

8. Industrial ecology
The study of the physical, chemical, and biological interactions and interrelationships both within and between industrial and biological systems. National Pollution Prevention Center for Higher Education
Industrial ecology is ecological in that it (1) places human activity -- industry in the very broadest sense -- in the larger context of the biophysical environment from which we obtain resources and into which we place our wastes, and (2) looks to the natural world for models of highly efficient use of resources, energy and byproducts Journal of Industrial Ecology

9. Terminology
Industrial parks: ‘a large tract of land, sub-divided, and developed for the use of several firms simultaneously, distinguished by its shareable infrastructure and close proximity of firms’ (Peddle 1993).
Eco-industrial parks: A short form for ecologically sustainable industrial park. In addition to satisfying the definition of an industrial park it is “a community of businesses that cooperate with each other and with the local community to efficiently share resources (information, materials, water, energy, infrastructure and local habitat), leading to economic gains, gains in environmental quality, and equitable enhancement of human resources for the business and local community” (PCSD, 1996)
Industrial symbiosis: Traditionally separate industries engaged in a collective approach involving physical exchanges of materials, energy, water and/or by-products (Chertow, 2000).
By-product synergy: A synonym for industrial symbiosis
There is currently some confusion in the literature and I have made part of my mission in retirement to clraify the language of eco-industrial development.

10. EIP models in the literature
Kalundborg model – multiple sectors and sizes of industries where by-products are exchanged ( also sector based)
Burnside model – multiple sectors of SMEs where “scavenger and decomposer” companies cycle materials, products and by-products
Resource recovery model – The emphasis of the park is on recovery and recycling of wastes
The Kalundborg and Burnside models are actually quite different in nature and scope. The other models could be viewed as variations on the two themes.

11. The Kalundborg model

12. The Burnside model

13. The Resource Recovery model
This model has been proposed in California and has been implemented in several eco-town projects in Japan such as in Kytakyushu. A smaller version is being proposed adjacent to a material recovery facility and regional landfill in Nova Scotia.

14. Assessment
None of these are EIPs, in my view, as they focus largely on industrial symbiosis.
They incorporate few other ecological functions in their design and operations.

15. Environmental Management Continuum for Industrial Parks
Eco-Industrial Park
Environmental Management Continuum for Industrial Parks
Concentrated industrial and business activity within a defined planning boundary with organized infrastructure
A labelling scheme (PALME) developed in France to recognize an organized set of enhanced environmental practices and amenities in industrial parks and zones
Clusters of manufacturers of environmental products, providers of environmental services and developers of environmental technologies
Clusters of industries co-located such that the by-products of one become the inputs or materials for other businesses or industries to minimize waste and dissipation of resources
Clusters of companies taking account of ecological limits, using resource-efficient infrastructure, buildings and processes, networking purchases and a balance of producers, scavengers & decomposers
Standard Industrial Park
Eco-Labeled Industrial Park
Environmental Industrial Park
Environmentally Balanced Industrial Clusters (Industrial Symbiosis)
Eco-Efficient Park
Clusters of companies working to reduce resource intensity, control pollution and minimize collective waste outputs
We could debate whether the categories are in the right order but my point is simply that an eco-industrial park is more than a park with certain environmental attributes, or a park with environmental businesses, or a park in which industries use resources efficiently, or aprk in which by-products are recovered and re-used by others symbiotically.

16. EIP standards Port of Cape Charles, Virginia
Koenig’s criteria for Thai EIPs (proposed)
Devens EcoStar criteria
Chinese EIP standard
Oree’s PALME label and guide
LEED standard for neighborhood developments

17. Innovista EIP, Hinton, Alberta
Principles
Ecology as central organizing theme
Community linkages
Distributed, renewable energy systems
Waste as resource
Strategic collaboration among businesses
Efficient and effective infrastructure
Efficient buildings
Integrated ecological design principles
Siting and building orientation
Landscaping using indigenous plants
Energy systems based on renewable sources
Water, stormwater and wastewater systems designed for recovery and reuse
Building design and materials
Recycling of materials
This eco-industrial aprk will be the first park built in Canada that will incorporate most of the principles and characteristics.

18. Other Canadian initiatives
Fort McMurray TaigaNova EI park, Alberta (developing)
Kaizer Meadows eco-business park,N.S. (developing)
Debert eco-industrial park, N.S. (transforming)
Ross EIP Regina, Sask. (transforming)
Pearson eco-business zone, Ont. (transforming)
Ontario East Wood Centre and EIP, Ont. (developing)

19. Characteristics of an EIP
Cote and Cohen-Rosenthal (1997) suggested some characteristics for an industrial park operating as an ecosystem: I
planning with the ecological capacity of the area in mind, paying particular attention to the assimilative capacity of the air, water (surface and ground), and connectivity;
energy production based increasingly on renewable resources, and at least increase the efficiency of current energy production and use through cogeneration and district heating;
buildings designed and built to optimize conservation of heat and water while enabling disassembly for reuse, and recycling at the end-of-life;
landscaping using indigenous resources and designed to support building heating and cooling;
industries and businesses selected based in part on their compatibility for symbiosis;
management encouraging a web of businesses involving not only producers and consumers, but also scavengers and decomposers to support cycling of materials;
redundancy in materials sources built into the structure of the system;
water recovered, cleaned and reused;
a common information management system which would facilitate networking.
While there is no international agreement on what actually constitutes an eco-industrial park as yet, Ed Cohen-Rosenthal and I did attempt to develop a list of characteristics. Some authors seem to have accepted this list.

20. Designing eco-industrial parks: key strategies
An appreciation of and restoration of the area’s ecological functions – ecology
A survey of the nature of companies – diversity
A survey of flows of materials and energy and generation of by-products– industrial metabolism
Techniques for improving industrial, commercial and institutional uses of energy and materials – resource efficiency
Techniques for reducing waste disposal–recovery, remanufacturing and recycling
Tools for assessing and using alternative processes, products – life cycle analysis and design for environment
What we are talking about is applying industrial ecology to industrial parks

21. Planning and design
The characteristics of an EIP have not yet been agreed upon by all agencies, researchers and developers.
In my view, they require an ecological or systemic approach -this means designing an industrial park which does not compromise or result in the loss of ecological services but rather incorporates them into planning and design.
This is particularly important for regulating and supporting services but could also involve provisioning services.
Ina new book by Peter Senge et al titled ‘The Necessary Revolution’, the authors state that “the mere use of recycled material, while important, would not be enough to designatea building as green. You have to think about the whole system: the land, the site itself, how it uses water, how it uses energy, what materials are in it, what air quality is like and the healthiness of the building for its occupants. This systems view is vital and very different from simply reducing adverse environmental impacts.” I would make the same case for eco-industrial parks.

22. Infrastructure examples
Where natural wetlands are not available, build engineered aquatic ecosystems which use sunlight, bacteria, plants, and other aquatic life to break down toxics, concentrate metals and treat organic material
Use ground source heat pumps, solar walls for space heating and install small wind turbines for lighting.
Collect rainwater and
snowmelt for fire fighting, irrigating plants, flushing toilets and where possible, process water
Develop composting for
landscaping resources and
nutrient cycling

23. Conclusions
Identify local champions and get commitment for the long term
Stakeholders need to be engaged early & throughout the process
Use expertise from various disciplines, especially ecologists and ecological designers
Applying ecological thinking to infrastructure eg water supply, wastewater treatment, energy generation, transportation, solid waste & recycling

24. References
Bossilkov, A. and R VanBerkel Industrial ecology in practice in Kwinana: Waste reduction and resource efficiency through industry collaboration. Waste and Recycle Conf. Australia.
Brand, E. and T. deBriijn Industrial ecology at the regional level: The building of sustainable industrial estates. 7th Int Conf of the Greening of Industry Network. Rome.
Centre of Excellence in Cleaner Production Regional Resource Synergies for Sustainable Development in Heavy Industrial Areas: An Overview of Opportunities and Experiences. Curtin Univ. of Technology. Perth. 139p.
Cote, R and J. Hall Industrial parks as ecosystems. J. Cleaner Production.
Cote, R.P. and T. Smolenaars Supporting pillars for industrial ecosystems. J. Cleaner Production. 5 (1/2): 67-74
Cote, R.P. and E. Cohen-Rosenthal Designing eco-industrial parks: A synthesis of some experiences. J. Cleaner Production.6 (3/4):

25. References
Gibbs, D, P. Deutz and A. Proctor Industrial ecology and eco-industrial development: A potential paradigm for local and regional development. Regional Studies 39 (2):
Haskins, C Multi-disciplinary investigation of eco-industrial parks. Systems Engineering. 9(4)
Heeres, R.R., W.J. Vermeulen and F.B. deWalle Eco-industrial park initiatives in the USA and the Netherlands: First lessons. J. Cleaner Production 12(8-10):
Gibbs.D and P. Deutz Reflections on implementing industrial ecology through eco-industrial park development. J. Cleaner Production 15 (2007)
Jacobsen,N.B Understanding the evolution of industrial symbiotic networks: The case of Kalundborg. ISIE Conf. Leiden
Lowe, E.A Creating by-product resource exchanges: Strategies foe eco-industrial parks. J. Cleaner Production.5 (1/2):57-65

26. References
McManus P. and D.Gibbs Industrial ecosystems? The use of tropes in the literature of industrial ecology and eco-industrial parks. Prog. in Human Geography. 32(4):
Nemerow, N. L Zero Pollution for Industry: Waste Minimization through Industrial Complexes. New YorK: John Wiley and Sons.
Roberts,B.H The application of industrial ecology principles and planning guidelines for the development of eco-industrial parks: An Australian case study. J. Cleaner Production 12 (8-10):
UNEP, 197. Environmental Management of Industrial Estates. Tech. Rpt 39. Paris: TIE-UNEP.
Zhu.Q. and R.P.Cote Integrating green supply chain management into an embryonic eco-industrial development: A case study of the Guitang Group. J Cleaner Production. 12 (8/10):

27. Appendix 1 Guidance for developing EIPs
There is no shortage of guidance documents for the development and operation of eco-industrial parks. Some are:
Designing and Operating Industrial Parks as Ecosystems, Cote et al Canada
Discovering Industrial Ecology: An Executive Briefing and Sourcebook, Lowe et al. United States. 1997
Eco-industrial Park Handbook.for Asian Developing Nations. Lowe et al.. Asian Development Bank and Indigo Development
Environmental Management for Industrial Estates. Information and training resources UNEP. 2001
Planning for sustainable industry development. Roberts,B. Australian Planning Institute. 2001
Eco-industrial Strategies: Unleashing Synergy between Economic Development and the Environment. Cohen-Rosenthal et al. United States. 2003
Mettre en oeuvre une démarche d’écologie industrielle sur un parc d’activités.. Oree, France