Today, industrial ecology is recognized as “one of the most holistic approaches to the development of sustainable industrial methods […]”. The term appeared for the first time in an article entitled Manufacturing Strategies by Robert Frosch and Nicolas Gallopoulos that appeared in Scientific American in 1989. […]. This way of thinking goes beyond simply curbing waste generation and promotes the use of production waste in order to eliminate it in its entirety. […] For the very first time, the industry went a step further than life cycle management and applied the ecosystem concept to a vast industrial operation that linked a company’s metabolism to those of others. The parallel between natural and territorial ecosystems can be illustrated as follows:
Source : Translated from Mettre en œuvre une démarche d'écologie industrielle sur un parc d'activités, Orée, April 2008
http://www.oree.org/publications/guide-ecologie-industrielle.html (in French only)
« The notion of industrial ecology supposes an integrated production approach that, at one end of the spectrum, may examine early phases including process or production equipment design and also, at the other end of the spectrum, involve product marketing. The objective is to manage energy, material and capital use in order to optimize the development of these resources while minimizing the environmental impacts. This approach is applicable at both the national and corporate levels. »
Source : Translated from Mettre en œuvre une démarche d'écologie industrielle sur un parc d'activités, Orée, April 2008.
http://www.oree.org/publications/guide-ecologie-industrielle.html (in French only)
The work carried out to make industrial ecology part of practical business activities focuses on resource optimisation, waste reuse and reclamation, and information management to valorize waste and enhance production mechanisms. In theory, industrial ecology encompasses more than just the 3RV-E (reduction, reuse, recycling, valorization and elimination) applied to the industrial sector. Creating networks of industries in order to exchange resources (products, waste, heat, water, etc.) is a good way to reduce the environmental impacts and enhance corporate profitability.
Several tools enable businesses and other stakeholders to apply the principles of industrial ecology and reap the benefits, including initiatives to enhance the energy efficiency of processes and buildings, eco-design, life cycle analyses and by-product synergy projects (industrial symbiosis).
In the 1990s, many new eco-industrial park projects were implemented across the world, in Europe, Australia, the United States and Canada (Halifax). One of the initiatives that received the most media coverage was the Kalundbörg project in Denmark, which demonstrated how impactful exchanges with pre-existing industries can be.
With the globalisation of exchanges and the integration of economies, promoting industrial ecology must be based on the idea of optimizing resource use in a given space. This is precisely the strategy adopted by the Bas-Richelieu and Montérégie RCMs to manage the waste generated on their territories (e.g. from the mining industry – tailings, slag, dust, etc.). It constitutes an approach that should be optimized as part of the ACCORD agreement (metal and associated materials transformation).
Source : Hawken, Paul. L’écologie de marché. Le Souffle d’Or. Paris, 1995, p. 92-93. (translation)
Translated from Mettre en œuvre une démarche d'écologie industrielle sur un parc d'activités, Orée, April 2008
http://www.oree.org/publications/guide-ecologie-industrielle.html (in French only)
