Industrial Ecology

An industrial ecology approach to manufacturing seeks to create closed-loop, sustainable systems modeled after natural systems. This approach often links businesses so that one company’s wastes or byproducts can be used in another company’s manufacturing process, thus reducing total waste and saving money for participating businesses. Cost savings come from lower waste disposal costs and the reduced need for new raw materials.

Industrial ecology also involves identifying existing wastes and byproducts produced by King County businesses and finding ways to use these as inputs to other industrial processes.

Underlying principles of an industrial ecology approach include sustainability, cradle-to-cradle management, life cycle analysis, and producer responsibility.

The Local Hazardous Waste Management Program in King County supports an industrial ecology approach through the following projects:

The Industrial Materials Exchange, or IMEX, matches businesses that have extra (waste) material with others that can use the material. Similar to classified advertisements, IMEX provides a listing of materials ‘available’ and materials ‘wanted.’

The Seattle-King County Industrial Ecology Roundtable, or SKIER, is comprised of representatives from seven agencies and promotes industrial ecology among businesses in King County.

To learn more about industrial ecology, see the International Society for Industrial Ecology.

Promoting Industrial Ecology in King County

What is industrial ecology?

Traditional industrial systems operate in a linear fashion, moving from the extraction of raw materials through the manufacture and consumption of products, to waste. The goal of industrial ecology is to change these linear systems into closed-loop, sustainable systems modeled after nature. An industrial ecology approach to manufacturing products seeks to minimize waste and optimize recycling, and it includes a re-evaluation of waste as a potential raw material for new products. Closed- loop systems can be developed for a variety of resources, including raw materials, energy and water.

Industrial Ecology Roundtable: Members and goals

The desire to move from traditional to industrial ecology-based systems prompted the creation of the Seattle-King County Industrial Ecology Roundtable in July 2007. The Roundtable includes representatives from the following seven agencies: City of Seattle, Office of Economic Development; King County Office of Business Relations and Economic Development; King County Solid Waste, Recycling and Environmental Services Section; Local Hazardous Waste Management Program in King County; Network for Business Innovation and Sustainability; Pollution Prevention Resource Center; and the Seattle Public Utilities (Drainage and Wastewater Utility, Resource Conservation Section, and Solid Waste Utility).

The Seattle-King County Industrial Ecology Roundtable has the following goals:

Benefits of an industrial ecology approach

An industrial ecology approach to manufacturing products benefits business, government and the environment.

The private sector saves on disposal costs and materials purchasing. A business can reduce waste disposal costs, and possibly increase revenue, by giving or selling its waste material to other businesses. By using waste materials as feedstock or production inputs, a business can save by not purchasing more expensive virgin material.

The public sector has less solid waste to handle because an industrial ecology approach reduces the quantities and types of waste material entering the solid waste system. Less waste saves public monies that would otherwise be required to enforce regulations, build and manage landfills, lease private landfill space, transport waste, and mitigate of the impact of solid waste facilities.

The environment as a whole benefits because chemicals are re-used: the total amount of toxic chemicals used by industry is reduced. In addition, since less energy is typically required to recover and recycle materials than is needed to extract, produce and transport virgin materials, greenhouse gases are reduced and energy is saved.

Learn more

To learn more about the Seattle-King County Industrial Ecology Roundtable, contact Larry Brown at the Local Hazardous Waste Management Program in King County, 206-263-8432 or larry.brown@kingcounty.gov.