Implementing industrial ecology? Planning for eco-industrial parks in the USA

Despite the widespread incorporation of sustainable development into policy discourses, actually achieving the 'win-win-win' scenario of economic, environmental and social development continues to be problematic. Advocates of industrial ecology suggest that by shifting the basis of industrial production from a linear to a closed loop system, these gains can be achieved. In recent years, concepts drawn from industrial ecology have been used to plan and develop eco-industrial parks (EIPs) that seek to increase business competitiveness, reduce waste and pollution, create jobs and improve working conditions. Despite a growing interest in EIPs, there have been few empirically informed studies that seek to explore the potential contribution such EIPs may make to sustainable development. This paper contributes to a developing sympathetic critique of industrial ecology by focusing on the key problems and dilemmas that arise in the course of developing eco-industrial parks, drawing upon empirical work conducted in the USA. The paper draws upon both an extensive survey of EIPs and in-depth interviews conducted with a range of stakeholders at ten US sites. As the paper reveals, EIPs in the USA are in their early stages and likewise their contribution to both economic development and environmental policy, let alone social policies, is complicated and inchoate. The empirical material reveals that key features of industrial ecology such as inter-firm networking and collaboration in the form of materials interchange and energy cascading are either absent or in the early planning stages. In each of the ten cases what is emerging is a form of EIP partly determined by the geographic setting and broader economic realities of the locality. While collaborative behaviour between firms is central to EIP development if the potential benefits of industrial ecology are to be realised, it is important to realise that such behaviour is difficult to develop from scratch through policy intervention. In conclusion, the paper suggests that expectations must be realistic for the community and location in question. As part of that realism, EIP projects must be designed to allow for a gradual approach, and each phase needs to be financially viable. © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved