Eco-industrial parks: Stimulating sustainable development in mixed industrial parks

In several industrialised countries, there have occurred initiatives to establish eco-industrial parks. Originally, these were mainly based upon the exchange of resources between heavy industries in industrial complexes. These initiatives are generally referred to with the concepts of industrial symbiosis and eco-industrial parks. Since then, the concept of eco-industrial parks has been extended to another relevant type of industrial park, the so-called mixed industrial park, which consists of various small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), sometimes complemented by a small number of larger industries. Because of the resulting growing ambiguity in the significance of eco-industrial park initiatives, a typology is desirable for entangling the confusion that is introduced. It is argued that mixed industrial parks are poorly investigated although they have a major environmental and spatial impact. Starting from a general consideration of eco-industrial park initiatives, this paper describes the societal and environmental problems that are related to the mixed industrial parks, proposes solutions and discusses the counteracting factors. While our argument relates strongly to the traditionally industrialised countries, it is also relevant to newly industrialised countries, as they are faced with similar problems, or will encounter them in the near future.

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