Industrial

Environmental and Economic Boon by John Ehrenfeld Illustration International Society for by Kirk Lyttle

Industrial often affects low-income neighborhoods disproportionately. But a well- established development in Denmark points to a long-term solution that in time could benefit neighborhoods located near industry. Kalundborg, Denmark, boasts an unusual industrial park that has grown up over 35 years. In an approach known as industrial ecology, its factories use the by-products of neighboring factories as raw materials. The first exchanges between Kalundborg plants were initiated to conserve water from scarce local sources. Some years later the local wallboard plant began to use by-product gas from the nearby oil refinery to heat its drying kilns. Bit by bit, more such exchanges were added.

Communities & Banking 3 Although environmental regulations created indirect incentives, no direct pub- Given population increases and the lic subsidies or other interventions played any part. The industrial park concomitant stress on the environment, grew quietly for decades, with the we have to decrease current world at large hardly noticing. After about 20 years, the woke by two to 50 times. We have to run two to up and began to promote the remark- 50 times faster just to stay in place. able development, which epitomizes ideas about industrial ecology that were forming simultaneously elsewhere. domestic product per capita, roughly food webs have large numbers of proportional to consumption) times T, symbiotic relationships. One species pass- Production, Consumption, which is a measure of the relative es its to another as its food. In Pollution impact per GDP unit. Kalundborg, similar symbioses are Industrial ecology is not a familiar occurring, with one company making concept to Americans. The field Because population and affluence good use of the wastes of another. emerged in the late 1980s, catalyzed by are bound to grow for some time, Robert Frosch and Nicholas Gallopoulos impact must decrease proportionally. In fact, a visit to Kalundborg in a Scientific American article. The Estimates of the amount of material would reveal a large industrial complex authors observed that energy and mate- reduction necessary to keep current with no significant lagoons or rials flows in industrial networks environmental-stress levels from rising disposal sites. What might previously resembled flows in the food webs of run from a factor of two to a factor of have been deposited in such catch- natural .1 But natural 50. In other words, given population ments is instead passed along for . ecosystems were doing better than increases and the concomitant stress on For example, the calcium-based sulfur human at wastes and the environment, we have to decrease dioxide scrubber effluent from a large getting the most out of their primary current consumption (and/or negative oil-fired power plant is piped to a wall- energy source, the sun. Nature was impact) by two to 50 times in order not board plant, which now saves on providing a lesson. to increase stress. We have to run two imported hydrated calcium sulfate, the to 50 times faster just to stay in place.3 gypsum used in drywall. The Historically, industrial networks effluent from a large pharmaceutical have operated primarily in “once- Industrial ecology offers hope for plant is treated sufficiently to be piped through” mode. That is, materials are reversing current trends. or trucked to farmers in the immediate extracted from the , converted region and used as fertilizer. into economically useful products, and A New Dawn from several plants’ hot water and then discarded back into , air, Industrial ecology makes a twofold steam is combined and piped to the and water: They go once through the contribution to environmental sustain- municipality for commercial and process, and that’s it. Superfund sites in ability. First, it improves understanding domestic heating. New England and elsewhere are a direct of material flows and how they impact consequence of once-through practices. the environmental . Second, it Growing Urgency offers ways to redesign products, servic- Although Kalundborg grew in an The unsustainable aspects of es, and production methods. It can unplanned fashion over decades, today today’s industry are closely related to reduce stress at every industrial stage: there is a more focused urgency about massive levels of consumption in both resource extraction, production, use, implementing its symbiotic principles. affluent and developing nations, and and disposal. Industrial ecologists are studying the scholars and critics have long called for best ways to develop similar complexes drastic reductions. Contemporary heirs Applying the industrial-ecology and are working more actively to get of the 19th century political economist principle to product and production them going. Thomas Malthus (who worried about redesign reduces environmental impact outstripping growth and leads to more efficient use of mate- According to the late Edward in agricultural ) see a rela- rials and energy. Greater efficiency, in Cohen-Rosenthal, of the Work and tionship between affluence and envi- turn, helps both individual companies Environment Initiative at Cornell, eco- ronmental .2 They express and whole grow. industrial development (EID) should that relationship in a formula, I = PAT. be viewed not only as promoting I is a measure of the stress on the To apply this simple but elegant sustainability but also as a potential global support system, and it equals principle regionally, look to nature. source of good jobs.4 As he anticipated, population times affluence (gross Natural networks and their attitudes toward waste handling,

4 Fall 2006 traditionally an undesirable trade with low wages and uncertain security, have been changing. More people are realiz- ing that recycled wastes have value to industry and agriculture and that keep- ing wastes out of the environment has a value to communities.

Eco-industrial development could lead to regional economic develop- ment. Existing enterprises could save money, as wastes are expensive to haul. New sectors with new jobs could be created. For example, eco-industrial development would be a good use for former Superfund sites and brown- fields, which tend to be located in older industrial zones amid low-income neighborhoods that might welcome a more sustainable use. This is not a question of poor neighborhoods get- information exchange to lower the dis- John Ehrenfeld is executive director of ting plants no one else covery costs, it could offer innovative the International Society for Industrial wants but of providing completely regulatory waivers, or it could create Ecology, based in New Haven. clean industries with good jobs. sources of low-cost capital earmarked for EID. The British government set Unfortunately, eco-industrial the example recently with a £13 mil- Endnotes development is moving slowly in North lion grant for the development of the 1 R. Frosch and N. Gallopoulos, “Strategies for Manufacturing,” Scientific American 261 (1989): 8 America. The President’s Council for National Program. 142-55. under President 2 P.R Ehrlich, and J.P. Holdren, “Impact of Clinton put together an initiative to Eco-industrial development’s Population Growth,” Science 171 (1971): 1212- develop eco-parks, but it essentially potential should spur the private and 1217. 3 E. Von Weizsäcker, A.B. Lovins, et al., Factor 5 went nowhere. Today, interest has public sectors to find ways to create Four: Doubling Wealth: Halving Resource Use increased in Canada, where EID is a partnerships among industries. (London: Earthscan Publications, Ltd., 1997). central theme of Burnside, a large However, as the Conservation Law 4 E. Cohen-Rosenthal, “What Is Eco-industri- industrial complex (1,300 companies) Foundation has found, leaving the job al Development?” in Eco-industrial Strategies: Unleashing Synergy between Economic 6 in New Brunswick. Additionally, primarily to developers’ initiatives does Development and the Environment, eds. E. several small networks centered on the not work well, because neighbors often Cohen-Rosenthal and J. Musnikov (Sheffield, pharmaceutical industry are coming to resist plans that have been formulated United Kingdom: Greenleaf Publishing, 2003). life in Puerto Rico.7 without their input.9 It is critical for 5http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/ esthag-w/2005/jul/business/kb_ecology.html. communities that have suffered from 6 http://www.uneptie.org/pc/ind-estates/ Public Role past industrial problems like pollution casestudies/Burnside.htm. High discovery costs—finding to get involved early in the process. 7 M.R. Chertow and D.R. Lombardi, partners that have wastes suitable for “Quantifying Economic and Environmental Benefits of Co-Located Firms,” Environmental exchange—are stumbling blocks in the Deeply rooted social and political Science & 39, no. 17 (2005): 6535- eco-industrial development process. concerns sometimes bring promising 6541. Additionally, constraints and liabilities brownfield-development processes 8 See http://www.alfed.org/publishor/system/ imposed by hazardous-waste regula- grinding to a halt. Suspicion about any component_view.asp?LogDocId=40644&PhyD ocId=33243. tions, even if not technically problem- industrial development, even projects 9 James Hamilton, personal communication, atic, tend to scare companies away. with sustainability objectives, runs deep. June 13, 2006. Moreover, all the success stories have Community members need to educate taken a long time to flower, suggesting themselves about eco-industrial devel- This Communities & Banking article is copy- that patience is essential, and patience opment and the significant economic righted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. is not a typical characteristic of and environmental benefits. The views expressed are not necessarily those of industrial developers. the Bank or the Federal Reserve System. Copies of articles may be downloaded without cost at Understanding industrial ecology’s www.bos.frb.org/commdev/c&b/index.htm. The impediments point to a possi- potential can begin with the recogni- ble role for public agencies. For example, tion that a system in which nothing government could consider supporting is wasted already exists, and that system is nature. Communities & Banking 5