SD Course in Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, 12-23 Febraury 2006

1. The concept of Industrial Ecology –
Key issues and future research
Ronald Wennersten
We have to start raising the correct questions

2. Setting goals
Environment
Economy
Social
Local
Regional
Global

3. The United Nations Millennium Development Goals are an
ambitious agenda for reducing poverty and improving lives that
world leaders agreed on at the Millennium Summit in September
2000.
1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development

4. Social aspects
•More resource-economical lifestyle in the wealthy countries
(and developing countries)
•Equity and justice
•Future generation

5. Industrial Ecology
From Industrial Metabolism
to Sustainable Deveopment

6. Industrial Ecology - Evolution
Pollution Improvement in Optimization of
product and Systems and
Technology-society
Prevention process design Interactions
relationships

7. What is Industrial Ecology?
What is Industrial Ecology?

8. Examples of tools in Industrial Ecology
LCA – Life Cycle Analysis
MIPS – Material Input per Unit Srvice
ERA – Environmnetal Risk Assessment
MFA – Material Flow Acounting
CERA – Cumulative Ebergy Requirement Analysis
IOA – Input-Output Analysis
LCC – Life Cycle Costing
TCA – Total Cost accounting
CBA – Cost-Benefit Analysis

9. Industrial Ecology is a dynamic systems-based framework
that enables management of human activity on a sustainable basis by:
•Minimizing energy and materials usage
•Ensuring acceptable quality of life for people !
•Minimizing the ecological impact of human activity
to levels natural systems can sustain
•Conserving and restoring ecosystem health and maintaining biodiversity
•Maintaining the economic viability of systems for
industry, trade and commerce.

10. Industrial Ecolgy - a HOLISTIC CONCEPT for
sustainable development
STABLE ECOSYSTEMS
SOCIAL
COHERENCE AND
SOLIDARITY
DECENT AFFORDABLE BUILDING THE
HOUSING FOR ALL LIVEABLE CITY
WORK AND WEALTH
EMPOWERING THE CITIZENS
RESOURCE CONSERVING MOBILITY

11. The Dimensions of Industrial Ecology
•Science – Values - Policy process
Justice-Equity, Cleaner-Production-Consumers choice
The role of technology
Democracy
•Time
Present –Future
•Space
Local – Regional – Global
What should be sustainable?
•Sector
Economy – Social – Environment (What is most important)
Consumer – NGO – Company – Public sector
•Development
North – South
Can south establish basic infrastructure built on dematerialisation

12. Discussion:
1. Equity and justice principles in Industrial ecology.
If you look at Bruntlands definition of sustainability how should we treat
the quot;conflictquot; between the demand among poor people today and
future generations?
2. Should we strive to focus on regional and local metabolisms in
accordance to ecosystem principles?
Who gain from global metabolism?
3. How can developing countries make a technology leap and not get
the technological and institutional lock in?

13. The metaphor with natural ecosystems
– Is it correct?

14. Ecosystem – Type III
Energy

15. Industrial Ecosystem
Materials
Materials
Processor
Extractor
or
or Grower
Manufacturer
Waste Consumer
Processor Limited
Limited Waste
Resources

16. THE NATURAL STEP'S PRINCIPLES OF SUSTAINABILITY
The Natural Step's definition of sustainability includes four
scientific principles that lead to a sustainable society.
These principles, also known as quot;conditionsquot; that must be
met in order to have a sustainable society, are as follows:

17. Substances from the Earth's crust must not systematically
increase in the biosphere.
This means that in sustainable society, fossil fuels, metals and
other materials are not extracted at a faster pace than their
slow redeposit into the Earth;s crust.
Substances produced by society must not systematically
increase in nature.
This means that in a sustainable society, substances are not
produced at a faster pace than they can be broken down in
nature or into the Earth's crust.
The physical basis for the productivity and the diversity
of nature must not be systematically diminished.
This means that in a sustainable society, the productive surfaces of
nature are not diminished in quality or quantity, and we must not harvest
more from nature than can be recreated.
We must be fair and efficient in meeting basic human needs.
This means that in a sustainable society, basic human needs must be met
with the most resource-efficient methods possible, including a just resource
distribution.

18. Waste was invented by nature not
by humans
• Vulcanos: e.g. carbon dioxide
• Forest and planctonic algae: e.g. coal, oil
and natural gas
• Sea birds: e.g. guano

20. Environmental disasters and
problems are invented by nature
• Earthquakes
• Tsunamis
• Acidification by marine algae (DMS)
• Green house gases e.g. Methane and
Carbon dioxid

22. Two definitions
Biological ecology ”The study of the distribution
and abundance of organisms and their
interactions with the physical world”.
Industrial ecology ”The study of technological
organisms, their use of resources, their potenial
environmental impacts, and the ways in which
their interactions with the natural world could be
restructed to enable global sustainability”.

23. Industrial Agenda
•Waste and by-products must systematically be valorized
•Loss caused by dispersion must be minimized
•The economy must be demateriallized
•Energy must rely less on fossil fuels
•Social aspects

24. Discussion:
1. What does industry need to do to adress sustainable
production?
2. Who are the key players involved and what must they
do to ensure that sustainable production is achieved?
3. How do governement policy and regulation need to
evolve in order to support the shift to sustainable
production
4. Must there be different strategies between
companies in ”developing” countries and those in
”developed” countries?

25. What are the driving forces for industry?
•Direct economy
•Indirect economy
•Innovation
•Legislation
•Standards
•Recruting
•Moral or ethical
Which forces can be active in a change of direction?
Who are the main players?

29. Question 1: IKEA Business Motivations
DRIVERS
•The IKEA vision- “Create a better everyday
life for the many people.”
•Past challenges/milestones- IKEA must be
proactive towards social and environmental
issues to ensure our long-term future.
•External groups- NGO’s and other external
groups have increased our awareness of
important issues.

30. Question 1: IKEA Business Motivations
ADVANTAGES
•Raw material security- IKEA must be
proactive to have supply!
•Eco-efficiencies- Efficient raw material use
has a positive effect on costs.
•Marketplace differentiation- Consumer
awareness of social and environmental issues is
growing.

31. Question 2: Challenges, obstacles and impediments
Communication-Internal/external
Resources-New competencies and tools needed
Varying global conditions-Different countries,
different conditions

32. Question 3: Future of Sustainability Commitments
Deepening commitments
Partnerships will increase
Systems thinking/New tools
Good
Products & Materials Forestry
Housekeeping
Suppliers
Stores
Transport & Warehousing

33. Question 3: Future of Sustainability Commitments
Product recovery
Product tracing
Consumption

34. IE - research
Theoretical goals
Interaction between human and natural systems
A theory of quantitative sustainability
The role of Technology in Sustainable Development

35. IE -research
Applied
• Develop policy instruments to incentivize
industrial ecology
• Diffuse industrial ecology into developing
countries

36. IE -research
Experimental
• Design and development of eco-industrial
parks
• Metabolism of cities

37. Industrial Symbiosis
Kalundborg
Denmark

38. Kalundborg industrial park

39. Town : Kalundborg
Country : Denmark
Population : 20 000 inhabitants
Characteristics :
The organization had not been planned originally,
originally
First cooperation in 1960 (Implantation of the
refinery),
Second project in 1970 (“Gyproc”), …

40. I - Organization : Partners
Asnæs: power station
Statoil: oil refinery
Novo Nordisk: biotechnological and pharmaceutical
Novozymes: production of industrial enzymes
Gyproc: production of plasterboard for the building industry

41. I - Organization : Partners contd…
• Bioteknisk Jordens: soil remediation company
• Town of Kalundborg: receives excess heat from Asnæs
• Novoren I/S: waste treatment plant

42. I - Organization : Energy
Excess gas from the refinery is provided by Gyproc
Asnæs supply the city, Novo Nordisk and Statoil with
steam
The power plant uses salt water from the fjord and
supply the fish farm with hot water
The power plant uses surplus refinery gas instead of
coal
Sludge from Novo Nordisk’s processes and from the fish farm’s
water treatment plant is used as fertilizer on nearby farm

43. I - Organization : Material
The cement company uses the power plant’s
desulfurized fly ash
Asnæs reacts the SO2 in its stack gas with calcium
carbonate to make gypsum to eventually sell to Gyproc
Pure liquid sulfur is produced from the refinery’s
desulfurization process: then transported to a sulfuric
acid producer
Surplus yeast from insulin production at Novo Nordisk
goes to farmers for use as pig food

44. IE -research
Experimental
• Design and development of eco-industrial
parks
• Metabolism of cities

45. An Industrial Ecology Model of a residential
urban area with half environmental load
The Hammarby Model

46. Industrial Ecology - Present
– Journal of Industrial Ecology - since spring
1997
– Industrial ecology Gordon Conference -
since 1998
– International Society for Industrial Ecology -
since 2001
– >100 postgraduate programmes of
“industrial ecology”

48. International Conference in Industrial Ecology

49. 01.Corporate Sustainability
Reporting 13.Eco-Industrial Parks and
Topics in Networks
02.The Spatial Dimension of IE
ISIE-2005 14.Design for Environment
03.IE Management/Operations
Research 15.Education
04.Tools in IE, LFA, MFA, 16.Environmental Management
Input-Output Analysis 17.Waste Management
05.Sustainable Consumption 18.Eco-efficiency
06.The social Dimension/ 19.Industrial applications of IE
Side of IE 20.Ecological systems theory
07.Sustainable Transportation 21.Complex Systems theory and
08.Policy Cases adaptive management
09.Sustainable Manufacturing 22.Product/servie systems
10.IE in a Global Context 23.Transitions and societal
11.Sustainable Cities and change
Regional 24.Scenario methods in IE
Metabolism 25.Agriculture and Industrial
12.Managing Energy and Ecology
Greenhouse Gases

50. ISIE-2007

51. We are starting to raise the questions
The role of Science in Industrial Ecology
and Sustainable Development

52. Research areas for IE
The Physical, Biological, and Societal Framework for IE
Avoiding sub-optimization (ecological, economic and social)
Meeting the requirements of the industries and the scientific community
Analyse future needs of industries vis-à-vis ecological challenges
set strategies and goals
Quantify performance and measure progress at industry and
societal level
quantification of economic efficiency and ecological effectiveness
Good practice of implementing industrial ecology in industries
Case studies
Trade-off between micro and macro, short-term and long-term
strategies

53. The scientist should always reveal
what is science and what are values
independent of the opinions of the
stakeholders
The scientist should present material
and create platforms for discussions
among stakeholders

54. The Scientist should in an objective way
develop methods to analyse different
approaches to sustainable development on
different levels
The Scientist should work in co operation with
other stakeholders like authorities, industries,
public (The 3rd task)
The Scientist should be aware of that
Sustainable Development is not value free

55. Important issues
•Development of industrial production and consumption patterns towards cyclic
more than linear systems minimizing waste, and the development of
sustainability and quality of life indicators using a combination of top down and
bottom up perspective
•Development of frameworks for a practical approach to the formulation of
environmental objectives and targets on national, regional and local levels
•Sustainable urban development with an integrated view of economic, social and
environmental issues including conflict resolution strategies
•The role of technological development and innovation in sustainable
development and innovation of systems more than innovation of products
•Creating arenas for true triple helix interactions between university, industry
and government to reveal the relevant underlying questions using creative work
shop and scenario techniques

56. Thank you for listening