ECO-INDUSTRIAL PARKS
The physical and spatial manifestation of industrial ecology
Since the mid to late 1990’s, North America has seen a variety of proposed and built “eco-industrial parks” that all have learned from the Kalundborg model. Their firm types, size, location, and functions all vary tremendously, leading to the need for a classification system and declaration of what an eco-industrial park is not. First, a list of five types of eco-industrial parks:
|Type 1 EIP|
Through waste exchanges
Recovered materials are sold or given away by third party dealers to other firms or organizations.
|Type 2 EIP|
Within a firm, facility, or organization
Usually one-way exchange. This type includes material or product exchange within a single organization but different units.
|Type 3 EIP|
Among co-located firms in a defined industrial area
This type includes materials, waste or energy exchange between organizations in close proximity. Exchanges occur primarily in a defined industrial area. (See Riverside and Burnside examples below.)
|Type 4 EIP|
Among near-by firms not co-located
Linking together existing businesses with an opportunity to fill in some new ones. (Kalundborg model)
|Type 5 EIP|
Among firms organized across a broader region
This type includes exchanges in a broad spatial region and a larger number of firms. These types of eco-industrial parks have not been realized yet, although some virtual exchanges have been studied.
source: Chertow (2001)
WHAT AN ECO INDUSTRIAL PARK IS NOT:
- a single by-product exchange or network of exchanges
- a recycling business cluster
- a collection of environmental technology companies
- a collection of companies making "green" products
- an industrial park designed around a single environmental theme (i.e. a solar energy driven park)
- a park with environmentally friendly infrastructure or construction
- a mixed use development (industrial, commercial, and residential)
source: Lowe (2001)
SPATIAL ARRANGEMENT OF ECO-INDUSTRIAL PARKS
The following are a few examples of of North American eco-industrial parks exhibiting various principles of industrial ecology. All are at different stages of completion/implementation.
***CLICK HERE TO VIEW AN INTERACTIVE MAP***
[FAIRFIELD ECOLOGICAL INDUSTRIAL PARK] Baltimore, Maryland
[RIVERSIDE (INTERVALE) ECO-PARK] Burlington, Vermont
[BURNSIDE ECO-INDUSTRIAL PARK] Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
[CAPE CHARLES SUSTAINABLE INDUSTRIAL PARK] Cape Charles, Virginia
[EAST SHORE ECO-INDUSTRIAL PARK] Oakland, California
[GREEN INSTITUTE ECO-INDUSTRIAL PARK] Minneapolis, Minnesota
[DEVENS ECO-INDUSTRIAL PARK] Devens, Massachusetts
A more complete list of North American eco-industrial parks can be viewed here.