The emergence of this new field was seen early on as a "unifying principle for operationalizing sustainable development" (Ashford and Cote, 1997). Sustainable development demanded a "more systematic thinking and interdisciplinary approaches" (Wellford, 1998), a systems perpspective that would assess the material and energy flows that occur within a system and at a specific time frame.
Coming back to the definition of IE used in the beggining of this text, a very important term contained within it is "complex systems". Never before in human history were we able to produce so much information concerning so many processes in so many different fields of science. This two delimitations (system boundaries, time frame) are then necessary for limiting the area of application, the specific tools and methodologies used and the policy context surrounding them.
Trying to operationalize Industrial Ecology, without first specifying the different variables (application, approach, processes, technologies, etc.) as well as the political, economical and cultural context, would be something near impossible. "Industrial Ecology is not only an analytical framework but a cultural phenomenon" (Boons and Roome, 2000), meaning that it encompasses various people, technologies, tools and industrial activities as well as the social interactions (and their importance in shaping the system) of all those actors involved in the system.
A first, much needed, distinction in the attempt to operationalize IE is the distinction between the geographical or product-based approach (Boons and Baas, 1997). The geographical approach contains analysis on regional networks of material flows (eg. eco-industrial parks) while incorporating human-activities to natural ecosystems. The product-base (or process) approach can be the use of specific tools like Cleaner Production, Pollution Prevention (*) or even Design for Environment, "an integration of industrial ecology principles into a product realisation design process, being an early example of the implementation of industrial ecology." (Allenby, 1992)
For the first case, alot has been written about the important variables of eco-industrial parks. The exchange of materials and energy, the use of residual products from one company to inputs in another, the minimization of waste and energy use and environmental impacts inside the area are but some. But since we already stressed the importance of the relationships between the actors of the system, in-depth insights of how companies interact to jointly reduce their environmental impacts is needed (Seuring, 2004). Ecological strategies, routines and norms that are being developed in such systems and what their impact is on the system will need to be identified.
For the second case, i will use the example of a mining operation. Mining activities are very important to industrial systems, as they provide most of the input required (discounting recycling streams) for their operations. Because of the nature of these activities, three factors are very important when analyzing them; resources, energy and capita. All three are used in a great extent in mining operations.
As we can see on the figure, Cleaner Production and Pollution Prevention, on a lower system level, represent two popular approaches towards reducing the environmental impacts of a product/process. Industrial Ecology, residing on a higher system level, provides the framework to synthesize those approaches and a stepping stone towards a strategic plan for implementing effecitve policies. (Arun J. Basu, 2006)
A description of this operationalization procedure would be first the creation of an environmental performance system that would measure "the trends, scales and relations for materials (consumed, emitted, dissipated and discarded)" (Arun J. Basu, 2006)
Relevant indicators would then be extracted from that data (waste minimization, recycling, waste disposal etc.), to be used in conjuction with the concepts of CP and P2. Industrial Ecology as a systemic approach that encompasses both technical processes and the social aspects of those processes (impact on local communities, labor conditions, wages etc), creating those indicators as inputs for the social governance of the system.
(*) These tools are not limited on that category of IE approach.
References
Allenby BR. 1999a. Industrial Ecology: Policy Framework and Implementation
Ayres RU, Ayres LW. 1996. Industrial Ecology. Towards Closing the Material Cycle
Boons F, Baas LW. 1997. Types of industrial ecology: the problem of coordination. Journal of Cleaner Production 5(1/2): 79–86
Boons F, Roome N. 2000. Industrial ecology as a cultural phenomenon. Journal of Industrial Ecology 4(2): 49–54.
Graedel TE. 1994. Industrial ecology – deļ¬nition and implementation.
Arun J. Basu and Dirk J.A. van Zyl. 2006. Industrial ecology framework for achieving cleaner production in the mining and minerals industry
Brad Allenby. 2006. The ontologies of industrial ecology?
Stefan Seuring, Industrial Ecology, life cycles supply chains: Differences and Interrelations
Hammer, B., 1996, What is the relationship between cleaner production, pollution prevention, waste minimization and ISO 14000?
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