Page 116 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

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Sustainable Development and Industrial Ecology
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• The second action is to reuse and recycle resources within the estab-
lished industrial parks. This will ensure that the resources will be
circulated within the local industrial area.
• The third action is to integrate different production and consump-
tion systems in such a way that resources circulate between indus-
tries and the community.

The circular economy initiative is meant to widen the opportunities and
chances for local and foreign investments to take place. This is accomplished
through the three actions stated above, and they all include development of
resource recovery, cleaner production enterprises, and public facilities to
achieve the concept of the circular economic industry. Another addition to the
third regional level would be integrating management of material flow among
suburban, urban, and rural areas (Circular Economy Xiaofei, 2006).
The circular economy concept joins the two basic approaches of cleaner
production and industrial ecology with its application as eco-industrial
development. The central strategies should revolve around establishing eco-
industrial parks and networks within the borders of the country. On the
other hand, eco-industrial parks confine themselves to the basic idea that one
company utilizes the wastes of another, which goes against the understanding
of how such established parks can meet the goal of a circular economy in a
region. Countries must focus on meeting the demands of a circular economy
and not just the establishment of eco-industrial parks by the actions stated
earlier (Circular Economy Xiaofei, 2006).
Circular economy plans in some regions in China have been able to
link eco-industrial development with cleaner production as the main strate-
gies for applying a circular economy. This proves that eco-industrial parks
form a link to the success of a circular economy; however, the parks should
not be perceived as companies that use each other’s wastes, but to look at
the broader view.
United States: Reviewing the experience of the United States shows that a
variety of stakeholders have important roles to play in promoting the devel-
opment of eco-industrial parks and networks. Yet due to the stringent health,
safety, and environmental regulations (Martin et al., 1996), combinations of
top-down and bottom-up approaches are required.
The US has been actively involved in the promotion of EIPs since 1994
when a major contract was granted to Research Triangle Institute in South
Carolina and Indigo Development in California to assess the potential appli-
cation of industrial ecology to economic development with the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) being the primary federal agency interested in the
concept at the time, which resulted in new White House initiatives to “rein-
vent regulation” and promote community economic development (Peck et al.,
1997). Ms Suzanne Giannini-Spohn, US-EPA, Office of Policy, Planning and