Industrial ecology (part of the green supply chain series)

Inspired by SOAS CeDEP study programmes.Presentation © 2011 by Darren Willman.

INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY(PART OF THE GREEN SUPPLY

CHAIN SERIES)

Tuesday 18 April 2023 1 of 18

http://www.soas.ac.uk/cedep/


LEARNING OBJECTIVES

› Introduce the basic definition and concepts of industrial ecology› Introduce to industrial symbiosis, its advantages and opportunities› Demonstrate that industrial symbiosis is created best through self-

organising, like the example of Kalundborg› Give basic introductions to the headway made by academics in

modelling industrial symbiosis and other minor aspects

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Tuesday 18 April 2023

Industrial ecology is a pretty sophisticated supply chain strategy

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…

Business as usual

Supplier managemen

t

Green Purchasing

Life Cycle Assessment

(LCA)

Industrial Ecology

(IE)

Extended Producer

Resp.(EPR)




Consider it a Life Cycle Assessment applied to the whole business

› Life Cycle Assessment = products› Industrial Ecology = whole organisation

› Frosch & Gallapoulos, 1989:› “The use of energies and materials is optimised, wastes

and pollution is minimised and there is an economically viable role for every product of a manufacturing process.”

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Broadly speaking, there are 6 elements to this concept

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Tibbs’ 6 elements of Industrial Ecology

Tibbs’ 6 elements of Industrial Ecology

Creating industrial ecology

Long-term policy

alignment

Balancing input and output to

natural capacity

Promote renewables,

discourage non-renewable

Dematerialisati-on of industrial

output

Changing industrial

processes to emulate natural

ones




Elements which command a very different type of organisation

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Images from abc.net.au and wikipedia.org

Traditional industrial systemTraditional industrial system

› Non-renewable energy and fossil fuels

› Depletion of natural resource stocks› Generation of waste, emissions and

pollution› Too much for the natural

environment to assimilate

› Material cycles and energy cascades› Renewable energy and resources› Utilisation of waste and by-products› Cooperative networks comprising of

different organisations and industries

› Substitution of fossil fuel to zero emission energy

› Full elimination of waste› Transition of waste to a resource of

value

Vision of industrial ecologyVision of industrial ecology




Industrial symbiosis is the practical business approach to achieving IE

› i.e. using industrial ecology for economic/business reasons such as reducing costs or increasing revenues

› Waste is expensive:› Initial purchase… Wasted unused resource… Disposal!

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Everything coming into the company is

a COST

Everything that leaves the company is an

OPPORTUNITY TO SELL




It is a compelling business strategy centred on 4 main benefits

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Motivations

Improve long-term resource scarcity

Regulatory pressure for efficiency New business opportunities

To reduce costs or increase revenue




Obtainable around 3 main opportunities or approaches

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By-product reuse

By-product reuse

Exchange of materials between 2+ parties for use as substitutes for materials

Utility or infrastructure

sharing

Utility or infrastructure

sharing

Pooled use and management of commonly used resources such as energy, water and waste-water

Joint provision of services

Joint provision of services

Meeting common needs across firms for ancillary services such as fire suppression, transportation and food provision




The best way to create industrial symbiosis is to let it organise itself

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Industrial symbiosis

ñ A conscious effortñ Identifies different industries

and locates them togetherñ Forms stakeholder groups to

guide the process and influence planning

Planned model

ñ Emerges from economically driven choices by private actors

ñ Starts slowly, expands graduallyñ Organisations are not at all

conscious that they are creating an industrial symbiosis!

Self organising

This one is by far the most successful

But stakeholder groups are also essential




Kalundborg is the world’s best example of this

› Kalundborg, Denmark› Started in 1970’s and

80’s› Was not about creating

something new and innovative, it was simply about exploiting mutually beneficial business opportunities

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Image from Bruce Chung / asknature.org




These partnerships arose naturally, for mutual economic benefit

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Liquid fertiliser production

Statoil refinery

BPG Gyproc A/S wall-board plant

Lake Tisso

Fish farming

Farms

Novo Nordisk A/SNovozymes A/SPharmaceuticals

Cement and roads

A-S Soilrem

Municipality of Kalundborg

Energy E2 Asnaes Power

Station

Sulfur

Water

Water

WaterHeat

Organic residue

Sludge & Yeast

slurry

Steam

Steam &

Boiled water

Backup gas

Scrubber

sludge

Cooling water

& waste

Heat

Fly ash

SludgeHot w

ater




IS is quite unsuited to modelling, but experts have still tried

› They are therefore incredibly difficult to find and create models for, but people have still tried…

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“Organisations are not at all conscious that they are creating an industrial symbiosis!”

Coordination driven by regional

efficiency

Partners share knowledge on sustainability

Formation of a sustainable

industrial district

Initiation & pilot Development Uncovering event

Model#1

Model#2




Experts have identified, however, what makes waste suitable for IS

› Technical specifications of the resource› Its availability (in terms of quantity and timing)› Whether additional processing is necessary› Any delivery costs› Impact of new materials› Consistency of waste product (i.e. the certainty that

it will be sufficient)

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Various case studies have identified common barriers to adoption

› How organisations are organised› Operations, finances, behaviours, structures, etc.› i.e. difficult to organise

› Potential negative externalities› Few opportunities› The suitability of waste reuse and/or sharing

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Image from premierbarriers.co.uk




And some have advised government for how to support them

› Facilitate the establishment of stakeholder support groups

› Bring to light resource exchanges that are not yet known

› Support exchanges taking shape› Provide incentives

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REFERENCES

Unit 7 Course Material, Managing Social and Environmental Responsibility, 2011, SOAS CEDEPVogel, 2005, The Market for VirtueChertow, 2007, Uncovering Industrial SymbiosisWelford & Frost, 2006, Corporate social responsibility in Asian supply chains

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http://www.soas.ac.uk/courseunits/C167.html




http://www.amazon.com/Market-Virtue-Potential-Corporate-Responsibility/dp/0815790775

http://is4ie.org/resources/Documents/uncovering%20IE.pdf

http://is4ie.org/resources/Documents/uncovering%20IE.pdf

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/csr.121/abstract

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/csr.121/abstract



REFERENCES

Unit 7 Course Material, Environmental Auditing and Environmental Management Systems, 2011, SOAS CEDEPFinkbeiner, Inaba, Tan, Christiansen & Kluppel, 2006, The new international standards for life cycle assessment: ISO 14040 and ISO 14044

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http://www.mendeley.com/research/the-new-international-standards-for-life-cycle-assessment-iso-14040-and-iso-14044/








Technology

Industrial ecology (part of the green supply chain series)