One company's trash is another's treasure in a Denmark city where nearby factories exchange waste, water and energy. At California- based Patagonia Inc., concern about the company's environmental impacts led to a comprehensive analysis of the fabrics used in its clothing line. The result was a shift to organic cotton. Electric vehicles may require a vast increase in the use of lead-acid batteries and, therefore, increased releases of lead into the environment. Is this a problem?
These are among the topics explored in the new Journal of Industrial Ecology, which premiered on May 30. The journal, an international peer-reviewed quarterly, is edited at the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies -- F&ES -- and is published for Yale by The MIT Press.
"Industrial ecology is a paradigm shift," says the journal's editor-in- chief Reid Lifset, who is a Yale research scholar, "because it views industry not in isolation from the surrounding natural systems, but in concert with them."
In the industrial district in Kalundborg, Denmark, for example, waste gases from an oil refinery are burned as fuel at the nation's largest power plant, and byproducts from the power plant's coal burners are used to produce cement and road fill. Gypsum produced by the power plant's air-pollution controls is used to make wallboard, and the plant's excess steam is used to heat a fish farm, neighboring companies and many of the town's homes. The oil refinery's coolant water is shared, reducing water consumption by about 25 percent. And a nearby pharmaceutical firm's production of penicillin and insulin yields a nutrient-rich sludge used as a fertilizer at nearby farms.
"The extensive re-use of wastes in Kalundborg is similar to the cycling of resources in nature. It illustrates one of the basic principles of the emerging field of industrial ecology -- that we should stop thinking in terms of wastes and start thinking in terms of byproducts that can be used as raw materials," says Mr. Lifset, who is also associate director of the Industrial Management Program at F&ES.
"In nature, little is wasted, so the 'ecology' in the journal's title implies that we can look to the natural world for models of highly efficient uses of resources, energy and wastes," he writes in the first issue. "Ecology" also refers to the importance of putting human activities in the larger context of the natural ecosystems that undergird our society and economy, he adds.
The word "industrial" in the journal's title refers to the need to view companies as key players in protecting the environment by incorporating environmental considerations into product and process design, notes Mr. Lifset. "Behaving in an environmentally responsible manner can be good for business, especially when environmental considerations are designed in right from the start."
The journal -- which is an interdisciplinary forum for environmental scholars, scientists, policy makers and managers -- features articles on both the theory and the practice of industrial ecology. Its columns and articles highlight case studies as well as the strategic and policy implications of real-life practices.
In addition to the piece about industrial ecology in Denmark, articles in the premiere issue include:
-- "Recent Advances in Design for Environment at Motorola," describing how the electronics manufacturer is designing its products to be more environmentally friendly.
-- "Going Organic: Converting Patagonia's Cotton Product Line," examining the production and marketing challenges faced by the company as it shifted to organic cotton.
-- A special series on "Chlorine Flows and the Environment," focusing on the life cycle of chlorine compounds -- from their manufacture to their use and final disposal.
-- "The Industrial Ecology of Lead and Electric Vehicles," examining the recent controversy over the environmental impact of lead batteries used in electric cars, as well as the ways that the tools of industrial ecology can help illuminate -- and manage -- the risks of lead pollution.
Letters to the editor about the journal's articles will be published on its World Wide Web site, so the debate can continue between the publication of issues. The page -- located at http://mitpress.mit.edu/ jrnls-catalog/jie.html -- will also feature the tables of contents, summaries of all articles, the full text of sample articles in electronic, downloadable form, as well as databases of interest to industrial ecologists.
Mr. Lifset shares editing duties with David Allen of the University of Texas at Austin and John Ehrenfeld of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, backed by an international editorial board of leading business executives, policy specialists and researchers. For subscription information, contact The MIT Press Journals Circulation Department, 617-253-2889, fax 617-577-1545, journals- orders@mit.edu.