APPENDIX B

ECO-INDUSTRIAL PLANNING PRINCIPLES

There are at least four terms in use in the literature, which mean more or less the same thing:  industrial ecosystem, eco-industrial development, eco-industrial development and eco-industrial development.  For the purposes of the Industrial Heartland, the term eco-industrial development will be used.  Other related terms such as industrial symbiosis and by-product synergy have a more limited perspective although they are important components of an eco-industrial development complex.

Although the field of industrial ecology is a relatively new field of study, there is some consensus developing on the major concepts and strategies.  An eco-industrial development is interpreted as a “community of manufacturing and service businesses seeking enhanced environmental and economic performance through collaboration in managing environmental and resources issues including energy, water and materials. By working together, the community of businesses seeks a collective benefit which is greater than the sum of the individual benefits each company would realize if it optimized its individual performance only” (Lowe, Moran and Holmes, 1996). The President’s Council on Sustainable Development of the United States also recognizes that:

1. the community of businesses must cooperate with the local community,
2. the resources that should be shared include information, infrastructure and the natural habitat; and
3. the sharing must be equitable.

In their seminal work “Discovering Industrial Ecology – An Executive Briefing and Sourcebook”, Lowe, Moran and Holmes identify a number of principles of industrial ecology:

Connect individual firms into industrial ecosystems:

• close loops through reuse and recycling;
• maximize efficiency of material and energy use;
• minimize waste generation; and
• think of wastes as potential products

Balance inputs and outputs to natural eco-system capacities:

• reduce the environmental burden created by releases;
• design the industrial interface with sensitivity to the natural environment; and
• minimize creating and transporting toxic and hazardous materials.

Design industrial use of materials and energy;

• redesign processes;
• substitute technologies and materials; and
• do more with less. 

Align policy with a long-term perspective.

The study by McCann et al and the Alberta By-Product Synergy project have identified a number of possible ways of closing loops and using by-products. From a planning point of view, there remains much to be done in reducing the environmental burden of releases a designing the industrial interface with the natural environment of the area. However, there are ideas that can be considered. These would include setting aside land for plantations that would serve as carbon dioxide sinks. Such plantations would not be large enough to compensate for the CO2 emissions of the Industrial Heartland but they would play a role not only in mitigating effects but also providing some employment and renewable materials. They could also serve to further protect significant natural areas such as wetlands and watercourses.

The principles put forward by Lowe et al focus almost exclusively on technical matters. The human and social dimensions receive no consideration. This area has been addressed by Cote and Cohen-Rosenthal among others. They identify a number of networking possibilities that should be considered in eco-industrial development. In addition to symbiotic relationships involving materials and energy, they point to networking in transportation (car pooling), human resource management (training), information and communications (management information systems), marketing (joint promotions), environment, health and safety (emergency response planning), production (equipment pooling), and quality of life (integrated volunteer programs).

Lowe et al, Cohen-Rosenthal and Cote all agree that industrial ecosystems must be more than:

• a local waste exchange;
• a recycling business cluster;
• a district heating or cogeneration project;
• a collection of environmental technology companies;
• environmentally sensitive landscaping;
• environmentally friendly infrastructure; and
• an industrial park developed around a single environmental theme.

Cote has suggested some characteristics of an industrial park operating as an ecosystem, some of which are applicable to the Industrial Heartland area.  An industrial area operating as a mature ecosystem would involve the following principles:

• the industrial activity would take into account the ecological capacity of the area, paying particular attention to the assimilative capacity of the air, water (surface and ground), and soil to absorb emissions;
• energy production would be based increasingly on renewable resources, and at least increase the efficiency of current energy production and use through cogeneration and district healing;
• buildings would be designed and built to optimize conservation of heat and water, while enabling disassembly for reuse, and recycling at the end-of-life;
• landscaping would use indigenous plants and be designed to support building heating and cooling;
• industries and businesses would be selected based in part on their compatibility for symbiosis and include the potential to integrate agricultural and industrial activities ad where appropriate residential land uses;
• management of the development would encourage a web of businesses involving not only producers and consumers but scavengers and decomposers to support cycling of materials;
• redundancy in materials sources would be built into the structure of the system;
• dissipative uses of materials and energy would be discouraged;
• management would establish a common information management system that would facilitate networking;
• identification and incorporation of opportunities for cooperative ventures among industries and businesses such as transportation planning, infrastructure development, combined waste management including recovery and treatment, environmental monitoring and emergency response;
• construction, operation and maintenance of infrastructure in an environmentally friendly manner;
• generation of a diverse choice of local employment;
• improved coordination within each level of government; and
• education about regulatory approval processes at all levels of government.