Industrial ecology is now considered one the most complete way to operate under sustainable industrial methods. This philosophy goes way beyond waste management by working on new uses of production residues so there is no waste left... For the first time, the industry overtakes the life cycle analysis  of a product to apply the ecosystem concept to a broad industrial operation that links “the metabolism of an enterprise to the metabolism of others”.

The concept of industrial ecology has emerged following the publication of the IUCN’s Strategy for World Conservation (1980), the Brundtland Commission Report (1987) and the birth of the Local Agenda 21 methodology, at the UN Rio Summit (1992).  Industrial ecology presupposes a holistic approach to production.  At one end of the spectrum, it can mean questioning the conception process or the production equipments while at the other end, marketing of new products call for support. The idea is to manage the use of energy, resources and capital in order to optimize the resource exploitation while decreasing the negative impacts on the environment.   These are concerns at the core of the technology transfer centers’ main mandate.

To translate the concept of industrial ecology into practical activities, actions must be geared on optimal resource use, reuse and R&D to find new uses for residues.  It also includes data management to increase the knowledge and awareness on new residue uses but also on how to improve production mechanisms.  Theoretically, industrial ecology goes beyond the 3-R concept (diminish- reuse - recycle – find new uses - eliminate) as applied to the industrial sector.  For example, networking the industries so that they exchange resources (products or residues) can be a good way to decrease the negative impact on the environment while increasing business profitability.

In the ‘90s, many eco-industrial parks have been implemented, more specifically in the US. Under the President’s Council on Sustainable Development, the US have created a task force on eco-industrial parks.  In its 1997 report, the group reported that there was about 15 such projects all trough the US. Similar projects have emerged at the same time in Canada (Halifax), the Netherlands (Rotterdam) and in Austria (Graz).

One of the most mediatised examples, Danish eco-industrial park, in Kalundborg, shows that exchanges between industries already operating on site can be very fruitful.

In a context of globalization of exchanges where economies are intertwined, industrial ecology can be promoted in order to optimize the use of resources on a territory.  This is exactly what Sorel-Tracy already does by looking for ways to develop new markets for production residues, for example from metallurgy (mining and dairy residues, particles, etc.) and municipal waste (industrial compost).

This text was inspired by the book « L’écologie de marché », Paul Hawken, Le Souffle d’Or, Paris, 1995, pp. 92-93

In order to realize this vision of human development activities into action, many tools are available in industrial ecology. These include:

• Life cycle analysis (ex: cradle to cradle/well-to-wheel);
• Ecoconception;
• Ecoefficiency;
• Synergy between sub-products;
• Corporate social and environmental responsibility (CSR);
• Eco-enginieering;
• Territorial ecology;
• Environmental Management Systems (EMS).

These tools can be used in many activities/stages such as:

• Extraction of natural resources;
• Energy consumption;
• Manufacturing products and building of infrastructures;
• Various transportation modes;
• Waste management;
• Land use and land development, etc.

They can be used by many types of organizations and activities, such as:

• Manufactures;
• businesses;
• institutions;
• municipalities.

Industrial ecology is an innovative approach for sustainable development.

Turning sustainable development into action: a question of process

More than anything else, sustainable development involves a change of paradigm (the way we see the world).  For sustainable development to be translated into action, there is an ethical and political process that must be understood as innovation and change management processes.

Those processes rely on:

a) Awareness: Realizing that there is an environmental crisis and that it is necessary to grasp what that means, both at the world and at the local levels, so that consequences can be evaluated when it comes to damages to ecosystems, resources and quality of life.

b) Destructuration: Realizing that our old values and beliefs, but also our usual way of thinking and acting are, in fact, what has caused and still causes the actual environmental crisis (economic growth before anything else, VS quality of life).

c) Systemic processes: Applying strict processes in project management in order to master tools such as:

• industrial ecology;
• Local Agenda 21;
• Environmental Management Systems, Environmental Accounting, Tables of indicators;
• Quality Improvement Management System;
• R & D Technology, etc.

d) Availability of activities: That include information, consciousness raising, education  and continual training so that new attitudes, capacities and competence can be acquired to answer those new challenges. 

THESE PROCESSES TAKE INTO ACCOUNT SOME BASIC PRINCIPLES :

• Environmental concerns are included in all issues with a perspective on prevention and precaution;
• Multi-sector approach;
• Stakeholder participation (democratic structures, closer relations between decision-making authorities and users);
• Concerns for intra and inter-generation solidarity.