11
tics, sewage, sulfur dioxide emissions, and much more. This effort was repeated a
quarter-century later (Warren-Rhodes and Koenig 2001 ), demonstrating strong per
capita increases in food, water, and material consumption. Researchers in Europe
took up the challenge, with examples in Switzerland (Brunner et al. 1994 ; Baccini
1996 ) and Sweden (Bergbäck et al. 2001 ) at about the same time period. Newman
( 1999 ) discussed the concept in some detail and applied it to Sydney. Urban industrial ecology is now rather common, a recent example being a metabolic analysis of
six Chinese cities (Zhang et al. 2009 ).
3.7 Industrial Symbiosis
Industrial symbiosis is the organization of industrial organisms and their processes
so that “the effl uents of one process… serve as the raw material for another process”
(Frosch and Gallopoulos 1989 ). Such arrangements occur because they make good
business sense, often because of the proximity of facilities discarding resources to
those reusing them, as in Kalundborg , Denmark (Anonymous 1990 ; Ehrenfeld and
Gertler 1997 ). Increasingly, these systems are recognized as having signifi cant environmental benefi ts as well (Klee 1999 ).
Many additional examples of industrial symbiosis have been described (e.g.,
Schwarz and Steininger 1997 ; Van Beers et al. 2007 ), and in the fi rst few years of
the twenty-fi rst century, industrial symbiosis methodology became better codifi ed
(Chertow 2000 ). Industrial symbiosis is today recognized as a path to improved
operational performance as well as to improved environmental performance in situations where resource exchanges can be effi ciently achieved (see Chap. 5 ).
4 Becoming a Scholarly Field
4.1 Conferences
The fi rst regular conferences in the fi eld of industrial ecology were the IEEE
Symposium on Electronics and the Environment that began in 1993 (they have been
held each year since, now under the name International Symposium on Sustainable
Systems and Technology). At about the same time, the AT&T Foundation began to
award university grants for research in industrial ecology (Alexander 1994 ) and
hosted invited meetings of largely industrial and academic participants each year
from 1994 to 1997 (Laudise and Taylor-Smith 1999 ).
Having attended Gordon Research Conferences (GRC) on corrosion science in
the late 1980s, one of the authors (T.E.G.) conceived the idea of organizing a GRC
on industrial ecology. The 1996 proposal was successful, and the fi rst GRC/IE was
held in New London, New Hampshire in 1998. For the fi rst few (biennial) conferences, it was a challenge to attract more than about 80–90 participants, and the
1 Industrial Ecology’s First Decade
tics, sewage, sulfur dioxide emissions, and much more. This effort was repeated a
quarter-century later (Warren-Rhodes and Koenig 2001 ), demonstrating strong per
capita increases in food, water, and material consumption. Researchers in Europe
took up the challenge, with examples in Switzerland (Brunner et al. 1994 ; Baccini
1996 ) and Sweden (Bergbäck et al. 2001 ) at about the same time period. Newman
( 1999 ) discussed the concept in some detail and applied it to Sydney. Urban industrial ecology is now rather common, a recent example being a metabolic analysis of
six Chinese cities (Zhang et al. 2009 ).
3.7 Industrial Symbiosis
Industrial symbiosis is the organization of industrial organisms and their processes
so that “the effl uents of one process… serve as the raw material for another process”
(Frosch and Gallopoulos 1989 ). Such arrangements occur because they make good
business sense, often because of the proximity of facilities discarding resources to
those reusing them, as in Kalundborg , Denmark (Anonymous 1990 ; Ehrenfeld and
Gertler 1997 ). Increasingly, these systems are recognized as having signifi cant environmental benefi ts as well (Klee 1999 ).
Many additional examples of industrial symbiosis have been described (e.g.,
Schwarz and Steininger 1997 ; Van Beers et al. 2007 ), and in the fi rst few years of
the twenty-fi rst century, industrial symbiosis methodology became better codifi ed
(Chertow 2000 ). Industrial symbiosis is today recognized as a path to improved
operational performance as well as to improved environmental performance in situations where resource exchanges can be effi ciently achieved (see Chap. 5 ).
4 Becoming a Scholarly Field
4.1 Conferences
The fi rst regular conferences in the fi eld of industrial ecology were the IEEE
Symposium on Electronics and the Environment that began in 1993 (they have been
held each year since, now under the name International Symposium on Sustainable
Systems and Technology). At about the same time, the AT&T Foundation began to
award university grants for research in industrial ecology (Alexander 1994 ) and
hosted invited meetings of largely industrial and academic participants each year
from 1994 to 1997 (Laudise and Taylor-Smith 1999 ).
Having attended Gordon Research Conferences (GRC) on corrosion science in
the late 1980s, one of the authors (T.E.G.) conceived the idea of organizing a GRC
on industrial ecology. The 1996 proposal was successful, and the fi rst GRC/IE was
held in New London, New Hampshire in 1998. For the fi rst few (biennial) conferences, it was a challenge to attract more than about 80–90 participants, and the
1 Industrial Ecology’s First Decade