A publication of
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING TRANSACTIONS
VOL. 35, 2013
The Italian Association
of Chemical Engineering
www.aidic.it/cet
Guest Editors: Petar Varbanov, Jiří Klemeš, Panos Seferlis, Athanasios I. Papadopoulos, Spyros Voutetakis
Copyright © 2013, AIDIC Servizi S.r.l.,
ISBN 978-88-95608-26-6; ISSN 1974-9791
Sustainable development and industrial ecology: methods
and steps applied in industrial areas
I.S. Antonopoulosa, A. Malamakisa, A.I. Zouboulisb, P. Samarasc and A.
Karagiannidisa
a
Laboratory of Heat Transfer and Environmental Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aristotle
University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece
b
Division of Chemical Technology, Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, PO Box 116, 54124,
Thessaloniki, Greece
c
Department of Food Technology, Alexander Technological Education Institute of Thessaloniki, 57400 Thessaloniki,
Greece
jantonop@aix.meng.auth.gr
Industrial Ecology is the study of material and energy flows through industrial systems. The global
industrial economy can be modelled as a network of industrial processes that extract resources from the
Earth and transform those resources into commodities which can be bought and sold to meet the needs of
humanity. The main target of industrial ecology is the quantification of the material flows and certificate and
validate the industrial processes that guide to the formulation of a modern fair society structure and
function. However, industrial ecology could be also considered as a major management issue, whereas is
strictly connected with the sustainable development, which should be applied in areas in three aspects: i.
Social, ii. Environmental and iii. Economical. In this study the methodological approach towards
sustainability in industrial areas is presented in parallel with some suggestions regarding recycling
networks that could be developed around an industrial area.
1. Introduction
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Industrial parks are considered as clusters of industries aiming to meet the multiple and various needs and
demands in a specified authorized location (Geng and Hengxin, 2009). The term industrial park was
developed as a result of the need of the settled industries to share centralized infrastructure and to finally
reduce the operating costs by creating groups of various types of industrial activities. Industrial parks
provide significant economic regional benefits and contribute to the reduction of unemployment in the field
area. However, the primary drawback of the industrial parks is the significant environmental impact
including the discharge of wastewaters, the generation of solid hazardous wastes and the utilization of
natural resources. Such issues reduce the sustainability feature of an industrial park, and conflicts with the
economic benefits of the settled industries in the park. Nevertheless, the implementation of sustainability
principles in industrial parks should consider all three aspects i.e. environmental, social and economical
(Gibbs and Deutz, 2007; Chen et al. 2012). Sustainable development in industrial parks has been
described by various researchers (Beers and Biswas, 2008) by applying and developing appropriate
methodologies, while Zhou et al., (2006) proposed appropriate indicators for the measurement of the
sustainable quality of industrial parks. In the latter years, terms such Eco-Industrial Parks (EIP) or
Sustainable Industrial Areas (SIA) were proposed to describe the development of strategies towards to the
implementation of the concept of industrial ecology by inter-company collaboration. Industrial Ecology (IE)
framework sets the parameters of the sustainable approach, by combining environmental, technological,
social and economical issues. Thus, EIP are designed with the principles of negligible environmental
impact, establishing co-operation among settled industries by quantifying internal material and energy
flows (Beers and Biswas, 2008; Mourtsiadis, 2010). Consequently, the settled industries in an EIP have
the opportunity for improving their economic performance and simultaneously minimizing their
environmental impacts. The principal best available technologies that constitute the components of an EIP
favour the application and utilization of new technologies towards GHG mitigation, pollution prevention,
inter-company linkage corresponding to the ‘green’ design of the park (shared infrastructure and settled
industries). In general, EIP must ensure the following features (Fernandez and Ruiz, 2009; Tarantini,
2009):

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; or

A mixed-use development (industrial, commercial, and residential).
In the specified IE field, the term Industrial Symbiosis (IS) was firstly used in Denmark, in Kalundborg area;
Chertow et al., (2007) stated that partnerships and appropriate networks among enterprises inside IAs
should be established aiming to the minimization of residuals, energy optimization inside IA and utilization
of by products. Hence, the principles of sustainable development will be achieved in the environmental,
social and economical sector providing significant benefits. Quite many researchers have developed
organizational theories and models regarding IS concept, based on the issues of collaboration,
cooperation and innovation (Chertow et al., 2009). However, the appropriate method is site-specific and is
greatly affected by the conditions (environmental; social; economical; legislative; technological) prevailing
in its area. As a result, a method for the development of a SIA is presented in this study, taking into
account conditions prevailing into Mediterranean countries and existing typical and innovative examples of
industrial symbiosis networks.
2. Materials and methods
2.1 Methodological framework
An effective methodology for the establishment of a sustainable IA should take into account the particular
features of the corresponding areas. In addition, the methodology should reflect all the primary
sustainability aspects i.e. environmental, social and economical issues. Hence, as a first step, a deep data
mining of the target area should be compiled in order to investigate and map the existing situation. The
four sections that have to be analyzed are summarized below:
i. Legislation: Detection of the actual condition of the national legislative framework concerning the
operation and management of IA. Due to the lack of a regulation regarding SIA, it is required to
identify in which terms the environmental and social aspects are considered within the regulation on
IAs planning and management;
ii. Environmental management of industrial areas: Assessment of the existence of a joint management
scheme of an IA is of significant importance for the efficient control and environmental improvement;
iii. Infrastructure and centralized services: Assessment and mapping of the existing infrastructure and
centralized services within the IAs;
iv. Environmental and architectural quality of the buildings: Verification of mandatory or voluntary
energy/construction/environmental requirements for the appropriate management of IAs.
The aim of data collection is the determination of the applied Best Available Technologies (BAT) in the
existing IAs followed by the preparation of a strategic analysis (SWOT) report. SWOT analysis is a useful
tool, which is used for the investigation of common problems and weaknesses of the IAs and for the
identification of the required steps towards sustainability. The entire methodological approach is illustrated
in Figure 1. Taking into account the SWOT analysis findings, suitable suggestions will be performed for
each IA. At this point, it should be mentioned that the suggestions for the IAs include: a) the formulation of
the appropriate networks among the settled enterprises and b) appropriate steps towards the management
and the organization of the entire IA. For that reason, the implementation of the methodology depends
upon the characteristics of the specific area. The formulation of the IS networks among settled enterprises
have to be focused to the following:

The percentage of by-products which might be recycled externally, and the potential intercompany
recycling activities;

The existence of either intercompany recycling activities characterized by close partnerships, or
regular relationships with business partners or customers.
However, the produced wastes will force the development of some relevant activities for example
companies that will utilize residual paper in their manufacturing process.
Findings
Data mining procedure
Legislation
Suggestions
Existing BAT
Environmental
management of
IAs
Required steps
towards
sustainability
Industrial Area*
Infrastructure and
centralized
services
SWOT analysis
Appropriate
networks in line
with IS concept
Environmental
and architectural
quality of the
buildings:
*: mixture of economical, social and environmental
activities
Figure 1: Methodological approach for IAs towards sustainability.
2.2 Processing methodological tools
The following steps include the analysis of the features of the IA and the investigation of BATs application.
Typical examples of BATs are illustrated in Table 1 (Antonopoulos et al., 2010).
Table 1: Applied BAT in three pillars (Antonopoulos et al., 2010).
Infrastructures /services of IA
Water
Wastewater treatment plant
Energy
Energy recovery plant using biomass –
wood/cotton/rice husks residues in industries
Photovoltaic panels – industrial roofs
Waste
Environmental monitoring
Environmental/economic/
social advantages
Reclamation and reuse of effluent
(for irrigation in certain cases)
Central wastewater treatment unit
for tanneries’ cluster
Reduction of GHG emissions and
economic benefits for the
enterprises
Recycling of industrial waste,
Material recovery plant
material recovery involving certain
streams of economic importance
Door-to-door collection
Reduction of pollution
Installed but not yet under fully operation
Following BAT application, the next step is the compilation of SWOT analysis in three aspects, namely
environmental, social and economic, in order to establish the sustainability guidelines for the IAs. Through
this analysis, the existing Strengths, Weaknesses and the potential Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) are
evaluated in each area. The results will provide significant feedback and suggested steps related to
licensing and management issues of the IAs and of the settled enterprises (Table 2). The suggested steps
are a part of the entire methodology (Figure 1) and the major questions that have to be answered are
presented in Table 2.
Furthermore, the suggested steps towards sustainability would be derived by considering the analysis of
the IA features. For the IAs structure improvement, managers should provide valuable and helpful
services/infrastructure to settled industries and enhance their managerial and operational role. On the
other hand, as far as the shared infrastructure is concerned, IA managers should ensure the cost reduction
to the settled enterprises. Nevertheless, an additional target should be the development of appropriate
networks towards IS concept, taking also into account that industrial buildings section is a very weak
aspect nowadays (2013); thus, appropriate principles for energy and material conservation should be
established.
Table 2: Suggested answers that must be given towards the application of sustainable measures in IAs.
Management and organisational structure
Environmental Management of the Industrial Areas
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
1.
Infrastructure and centralized services
Environmental and architectural quality of the
buildings
2.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Strengthen managing infrastructure.
Commit enterprises to respect sustainability norms.
Compilation of an environmental improvement plan.
IA managers provide helpful services/infrastructure on a
mandatory/voluntary basis.
Sharing in the planning and management phase.
Sharing the improvement objectives.
Monitoring procedures.
Environmental improvement plan.
Environmental protection and prevention.
Sustainability policy.
Compilation of guidelines towards industrial symbiosis
among settled industries.
Centralized infrastructure must ensure the reduction of
costs.
Provide innovative support services to enterprises.
Innovation in design.
Materials, water and energy conservation.
Indoor environment quality and occupational health.
Mobility and transportation.
2.3 Development of sustainable industrial networks
2.3.1 Paper recycling network
The paper recycling is based on the 4R concept: Refine, Reuse, Recycle and Renewable Energy.
However, constructing ideally the pulp and paper manufacturing process/industry in accordance to the IS
concept, an entire industrial complex is developed. Figure 2 depicts the whole industrial complex including
all the relevant processes and the system boundaries. Thus, it is evident that around paper industry,
various activities/plants could be potentially developed related to waste, energy and power management.
A potential power plant could run by the utilization of wood residues and sludge from the pulp and paper
mill. In addition, the power plant could distribute the heat back to the pulp and paper mill or to provide
district heating in a nearby around, in case of excess amount of heat. Alternatively, the generated
electricity could be provided to the national grid or could retrofit the industry. The chemical processing
plants of that system could receive the required energy from the power plant and treated water from the
paper industry. However, the carbon dioxide emissions of the manufacturing processes could be utilized
as a raw material by other industrial chemical processes like a calcium carbonate plant. An appropriate
waste management balance should be based on the transfer of a part of the sewage sludge from the
municipal sewage plant to the wastewater treatment plant of the pulp and paper mill, whereas the wood
residues from the pulp process could be utilized for energy generation in the power plant.
2.3.2 Photovoltaic symbiosis network
A quite innovative IS system is the photovoltaic manufacturing process. The photovoltaic panels are
constituted by various packaging materials like paper and cardboard, plastic, glass and metals. The high
percentages of those materials require a suitable management. A potential integrated photovoltaic
manufacturing process is illustrated in Figure 3. The main goal of organizing the photovoltaic
manufacturing process in an IS concept is to increase both the economic and environmental performance.
Therefore, the development of the appropriate policies together with the development of other relevant
activities are the major benefits towards the establishment of an IS in such a manufacturing process.
As shown in Figure 3, eight relevant activities could be developed around the main manufacturing process
plant. The recycling facility could provide the required recycled materials, glass, metals, plastic and
paper/cardboard. The raw glass from the recycling plant will be fed to a sheet glass factory and melted
using fossil fuel. Consequently, the utilization of recycled materials in the photovoltaic manufacturing
process provide significant environmental benefits by lowering the consumption of raw materials, reducing
the release of carbon dioxide emissions and decreasing the operating/manufacturing costs of the panels.
Figure 2: Industrial symbiosis, paper sector (partly based on Sokka et al., 2010 and Pearce 2008)
Figure 3: An integrated photovoltaic manufacturing process in an Industrial Symbiosis concept.
2.3.3 Bio-products reverse logistics networks
As far as waste biomass supply networks exhibit many origins (collection points) and few destinations
(energy conversion facilities), biomass strategic decision-making could utilize the corresponding
methodological tools of reverse supply chains that display common structure (many collection points of
reused products and few recycling facilities), or even waste management tools (many collection points of
waste and few sanitary landfills) according to Iakovou et al. (2010). In the future biobased economy
biorefineries play a central role. Versatile biomass supply chains will feed full-scale, highly efficient,
integrated and sustainable industrial agglomerations, processing biomass into a spectrum of marketable
products and energy. New innovative value chains will have grown on the interface of the different
traditional sectors that have succeeded in combining their key strengths to create the critical mass to
attract investors, policy makers and young talent. These value chains will provide SIA’s with a competitive
edge in the global market. Achieving the full potential of the biobased economy requires swift and
concerted action by the industry across the whole value chain, closing the gap between scientific feasibility
and industrial applications and enhancing strategic cooperation between sectors: the EIP embraces the
integrated value chain approach, linking industries involved in biomass supply (breeding and plant
production, forestry, valorisation of waste, farming), in biorefineries (transport, storage, separation,
isolation) and in product innovation (biochemical, biomaterials, advanced biofuels, food & feed
ingredients).
3. Conclusion
The proposed methodology should involve public and private actors related to the IAs management.
Furthermore, in order to be applied effectively in industrial areas it is crucial to bridge the gap and establish
agreements among local authorities and industries, aiming to reach a joint sustainable industrial strategy.
It should be also mentioned that in a sustainable IA even the monetary benefits for the located industries
are quite high. Significant environmental benefits will be achieved by the centralized solid and liquid waste
treatment, applying environmental monitoring procedures and by developing appropriate networks among
industries in SIA. Thus, in general the study proves that the industrial ecology term should be
accompanied by the IS concept in order to achieve sustainability in the three studied aspects. However, as
it was presented in the study, in each area different steps towards sustainability should be applied in
accordance to the settled industries typology. Thus appropriate recycling networks should be developed in
the frame of the IS concept minimizing the environmental impacts and maximizing the social impact, which
is interpreted by the increase of the work positions. Consequently, significant economical profits will be
presented and in the meanwhile the industrial ecology concept will be achieved.
Acknowledgements
“The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework
Programme [FP7│2012-2013] under Grant Agreement no [316167].”
Acronyms
BAT
EIP
IA
Best Available Technologies
IS
Eco Industrial Park
SIA
Industrial Area
SWOT
Industrial Symbiosis
Sustainable Industrial Area
Strength Weakness Opportunity Threat
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