How can an industrial park be sustainable and economical at the same time

Until 2020, greenhouse gas emissions should be reduced by 20% and the share of renewables, as well as the energy efficiency increased by 20%. This is also referred to as the so-called “20/20/20 targets”. By 2050, however, an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is targeted. But how can sustainability and cost-effectiveness be reconciled in the industrial sector? And how do the terms industry, sustainability, economy and ecology fit together?

To answer these questions, eco-industrial parks offer a starting point. An EIP is a new approach to raising environmental awareness. But what is the difference between industrial parks (IP) and eco-industrial parks (EIP)? First of all, an industrial park is a coherent, self-contained area for the settlement of industrial enterprises. It has an extensive infrastructure, such as roads, supply and disposal facilities, rail connection, fire department depot, post office, canteen, security guard or kindergarten.

The individual companies are linked to each other through shared value chains and share the location-related infrastructure and services. Industrial parks are generally characterized by their vast web of energy and material flows, e.g. the physical exchange of energy, water and/or various material by-products. The supply of an industrial park should be sustainable, resource-saving and pursue a meaningful and long-term strategy from an economic point of view. In addition to the characteristics of industrial parks, eco-industrial parks attempt to reduce waste and pollution and they efficiently share resources, like information, materials, water, energy, infrastructure or natural resources. All together, they help to achieve sustainable development with the intention of increasing economic gains and improving environmental quality.

Industrial parks see themselves more and more as modern service providers for promoting corporate sustainability management and therefore play an important role in developing sustainable business practices in developing and emerging economies. Is it possible that an industrial park becomes an eco-industrial park? The answer is: yes, a transformation is possible. But this process is a slow and progressive one.

Advantages of eco-industrial parks

Basically, a distinction can be made between monetary benefits for companies, environmental benefits and societal benefits of eco-industrial parks. Energy cooperations and mutualised energy services may create competitive advantages and improve overall environmental and economic performance of companies. Those environmental benefits may include: improved resource conservation and security as well as lower water contamination, lower dust-, noise, – and air emissions.

In the long run, the initiatives will reduce raw material and waste disposal costs, generate new revenue from residues and by-products as well as reduce carbon emissions. The economic benefits may entail higher productivity, job security and creation (via an increased need for specialists in e.g. industrial ecology), lower production costs, less energy consumption and in that way less transportation and less costs of compliance. Societal benefits are for example a better economy, cheap heating and cleaner air and water, which leads to better health. In this sense, new business opportunities may be created.

As customers are increasingly becoming aware of sustainability aspects in the value chain, companies implementing joint energy strategies may have a considerable benefit in favour of the customer, compared to other competitors on the market.

Eco-industrial park Kalundborg

The most famous example for an eco-industrial park is the Kalundborg Park in Denmark, which started in 1959 with nine private and public enterprises. In 1972 it pioneered “industrial symbiosis” and attracted thereby great interest. This EIP emerged via bottom-up initatives. Today, many eco-industrial parks are planned by a top-down approach. Thereby, the goal is to reduce waste and pollution and to share resources effienciently, while creating economic gains for the companies. The original motivation of the eco-industrial park in Kalundborg was to reduce costs.

Additionally, industry managers and local residents generated environmental benefits as well. An eco-industrial industry pays off: In Kalundborg, the seven partners reduced their annual CO2 emissions by 275 000 tons, saving 80 million euros each year. The idea and future goal is to extend this system to other industry parks as well. Here, the waste from one factory becomes a resource for another. The steam of a power plant, for example, is collected and used in a pharmaceutical company for the production processes, or waste heat is used to heat local housing estates.

The company’s production facility in Kalundborg is also attracting foreign interest. Expecially in China, people are exited about how companies can grow, while minimizing their impact on the environment. This aspect is especially interesting for developing countries. The project at Kalundborg hasn’t only attracted international attention, but has also been awarded several environmental prizes.

Industrial symbiosis — How waste becomes raw material

The eco-industrial park Kalundborg in Denmark is the first one, where industrial symbiosis (IS) is fully realised. Industrial symbiosis is a kind of mediation that brings companies into an innovative collaboration with the aim of finding ways to utilize one´s waste as the other’s resources. The process of industrial symbiosis involves the formation of symbiotic links, such as energy cooperation or mutualised energy services, with the essence of a well-functioning ecosystem. Energy cooperation of neighbouring businesses is possible in energy exchange, distribution or in collective production.

Joint contracting of high quality services such as maintenance, energy monitoring, energy and carbon management are just a few examples of mutualised energy services. But the case of industrial symbiosis seems to be unconvincing when there are not large, continuous process waste streams existent. Great promise lies in projects, where some type of material or energy exchange already exists. Those are often called “green twinning” or “by-product synergy”.

Due to the barriers in regulatory and legal frameworks, but also due to a lack of knowledge about the benefits, corporations in industrial parks still manage their material and energy flows quite independently from each other. At the same time, emerging trends for more resilient and interconnected energy systems create an ever more possibility for efficiency improvements via coorperation.

The concepts of eco-industrial parks and industrial symbiosis both comprise the reuse of waste and materials in a closed system. Considering this closed-loop-approach, eco-industrial parks are, among others, drivers of and demonstrators for innovations emerging from the field of circular economy. They also have the potential to solve increasing conflicts among the economic growth, resource shortage, and environmental aggravation. It is important to understand, that energy cooperations and symbiosis cannot be forced upon businesses (top-down) but should rather be stimulated by engaging companies and industries themselves. “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” — this proverb is really true here.

Keywords

industry, symbiosis, ecology, sustainability