Industrial Ecology

Industrial Ecology is a form economic capital. It can contribute to a sustainable community by creating cooperation between industries through waste reduction or reuse (Ling, 2009). Interaction between industries this way can promote positive large scale change not only for the corporations themselves, but for the community. I came across an interesting case study tonight in Kalundborg, Denmark.

Apparently, in 1972 the city relied on a single power station for all power needs. As of 1994 it has evolved into a cluster of power companies all interdependent on each other for material inputs. Apparently the energy savings of operating as a decentralized set of companies has totalled an estimated $10 million per year. How does it all work? It involves 5 different partners all with different business objectives. The partners are
• A coal fired power plant
• And oil refinery
• A pharmaceutical plant
• A manufacturer of gyproc
• The municipality of Kalundborg, which distributes water and electricity to the towns 20,000 people

The treated wastewater from the refinery is used as cooling water for the power station, while the oil refinery and pharmaceuticals company purchase waste steam for use in their processes. Excess heat from the power plant is also used to power the adjacent fish farm. Interestingly, the gyproc company purchases the fly-ash, in the order of 80,000 tonnes per year, from the power plant to use in the manufacturing of their product. I could go on regarding the numerous avenues in which waste products are traded between these industries, but I’ll leave it at those examples.
The benefit of these partnerships, or technological clusters (Ling, 2009) has benefitted the community immensely. The companies have reduced emissions, met or exceed their sustainability goals and provided a cost saving to the community, either through their product or through a cleaner environment (International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2007).
This example makes these interactions seem easy and, although they don’t always work in this ideal manner, it seems beneficial to me for companies to be seeking the use of economic capital in this way.

Works Cited
International Institue for Sustainable Development. (2007). Kalundborg. Retrieved January 29, 2009, from Business and Sustainable Development: http://www.bsdglobal.com/viewcasestudy.asp?id=77
Ling, C. (2009). Types of Social Capital. Victoria: Royal Roads University.