Industrial Ecosystems: Developing Sustainable Industrial Structures

By Nicholas Gertler

Chapter 3. The Zero Emissions Research Initiative

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ZERI is based in the United Nations University's Tokyo headquarters, from which Pauli has marshaled a global network of researchers and interested participants. Curiously, the UNU is a university without students; rather it serves as a hub and clearing house for research efforts of international scope. Work on the project began in April of 1994, with the first ZERI Business Roundtable held in July in Tokyo, followed in September by the release of a document outlining ZERI's concept, feasibility, and initial research program. Funding will be secured in part by ZERI Foundation memberships offered to 50 selected companies, who would benefit from priority access to research results and by participation in ZERI projects. The program will also involve an international array of governments and educational institutions [ GMI Report: Japan No. 18. September 1994 and January (?) 1995.] . 
 

The ZERI Charter  ZERI Foundation memberships have been offered to 50 companies who, by joining, agree with the following principles of the ZERI charter:  1. The members of the ZERI foundation realize that there is an urgent need to design corporate strategies and industrial policies based on the principle of sustainable social and economic development.  2. The members believe that the creation of value-added benefits for society are best supported through market mechanisms where competitive forces stimulate industry to eliminate all forms of waste.  3. The members accept that industry will only have reached its full potential when all waste has been eliminated. The quest for the elimination of waste (zero emissions) is in line with the corporate drive for total quality (zero defects) and just-in-time (zero inventory).  4. Therefore, the members will target the elimination of all waste. In a case where all inputs are not completely used, consumed or integrated into the product or production process, these residues will become value-added inputs for other industries.  5. The members will search for solutions based on innovative technologies and supported by the appropriate industrial policies. Industry must combine cost reduction schemes with environmental investment.  6. The members undertake joint research, working with the centers of excellence, and are committed to set an example. If research is successful, then pilot projects will be established, followed by the dissemination of the technologies.  7. The members recognize that ZERI will question established ways of manufacturing. The present product formulations, processing systems, engineering and applied technologies will be reassessed with zero emissions as a target.  8. The members support multi-disciplinary research at the pre-competitive level as a methodology.  9. The members are committed to a long-term process. The members will commit for a minimum of five years, combining their corporate strategic interests with a vision on how to secure competitiveness in the future.  10. The members are aware that the public at large needs a broader understanding of the complex issues at stake. A special effort will be undertaken to inform and educate the consumers and the public on the opportunities to TARGET ZERO EMISSIONS.

Zero Emissions Manufacturing is being pushed by Pauli as a key aspect of business strategy for the next century, not merely as a way to tweak the system to make it more environmentally benign. Green consumerism in Europe certainly presents ample evidence that being 'eco-friendly' can have significant impact on market share, although this phenomenon has yet to manifest itself in earnest in the United States. ZERI calls for a wholesale reassessment of manufacturing, as indicated by item 7. of its charter: "The members recognize that ZERI will question established ways of manufacturing. The present product formulations, processing systems, engineering and applied technologies will be reassessed with zero emissions as a target (See box)." 

In addition, item 3. of ZERI's charter prescribes the ideal or end-state which is to be sought: "The members accept that industry will only have reached its full potential when all waste has been eliminated." The charter draws parallels between zero emissions and zero defects (total quality) and zero inventory (just-in-time manufacturing), placing the zero waste concept squarely in the realm of corporate strategy. According to Pauli, this is clearly not just an environmental issue. Industry "should see this as [a] strategic envisioning for the twenty-first century. I see too many people who say 'very interesting, let's talk with the environmental people.' I say, no, you should talk with the strategic planning people [ GMI News: Japan No. 18. September, 1994.] ." 

As of the end of 1994, companies and universities from 21 countries had signed on as ZERI participants, with engineering and machinery magnet Ebara Corp. and the software firm ASCII being the first Japanese companies to join [ GMI News 1995 ibid.] . Japanese industry may be fertile ground for such an ambitious undertaking as the total elimination of waste, since it is no stranger to the marshaling of concerted effort to achieve difficult goals. Japanese industry was shooting for zero defects while foreign competitors were content with 'acceptable' levels. ZERI's similarly strict goal may be seen as a competitive advantage [ GMI News 1994. ibid] . 

While advancing a broad philosophy, the ZERI project is currently focused on three research initiatives: recovery of high-value green biomass from logging residue, redesign of paper recycling for zero emissions, and the clustering of beer brewing and fish farming as complementary industries for the elimination of waste. While the first two projects are clearly important and interesting in their own right, it is the clustering of industries that is of interest to us here. 

Consistent with the notion that complementary industries can form zero-emissions clusters, the ZERI project has undertaken to combine beer brewing and fish farming in a scheme that uses the nutrient-rich byproduct of the brewing process as fish food. According to the Outline of ZERI feasibility studies released in September of 1994, the brewing of beer, for which hop, barley, malt, sugar, and rice are the primary raw materials, results in a fermentation residue called 'cake'. This cake has significant protein content, and has traditionally been disposed of as cattle feed. Increasing economies of scale in brewing have forced large breweries to dry, package, and deliver the cake to widely dispersed cattle ranchers. Seasonal fluctuations in beer consumption require similar fluctuations in production, resulting in greatly increased cake production during the summer, for which there is often no useful outlet. Storing or landfilling the extra cake is costly [ Gunter Pauli, "ZERI Feasibility Study," United Nations University 1994.] . 

The clustering of brewing and aquaculture is further motivated by the inherent inefficiency of cattle ranching: even when cake is fed to cattle, its protein content is not used to its fullest potential, since it takes seven tons of feed to produce one ton of beef. In contrast, one ton of fish requires only 1.8 tons of feed. Pauli also notes that world prices for selected fish are steadily increasing, while world meat prices are in decline. The nuisance created by the foul odor of brewery cake adds to the impetus for using it on-site. 

The ZERI vision is of fish farms operated in immediate proximity to beer breweries. In this way, the byproduct cake could be reused immediately as fish feed, with apparently no need for processing. However, the brewery waste cake is high in fiber, so that it cannot be digested completely by the fish. Unutilized fish excretions would constitute a waste stream, thereby stopping short of the zero emissions ideal. The proposed solution to this snag is the introduction of algae into the fish farms. With over 2000 types of algae to choose from, ZERI researchers are confident that they can identify those that can reprocess fish excrement, and can in turn be fed to the fish. Since algae need nothing more than sunlight as an energy source, they are an efficient way to proceed. 

Fermentation processes also produce heat, comprising another byproduct of beer brewing. Using this excess heat to elevate and regulate the temperature of the fish ponds would permit the more rapid hatching of higher grade fish. Recall that Kalundborg's Asnæs Power Station also makes use of its excess heat in its fish ponds. 

While the European, American, Australian and Japanese markets for beer are apparently saturated, Pauli has identified expanding markets throughout the developing world. With growing demand goes increasing production, providing opportunities to introduce brewery/fish farm clusters as new facilities are constructed. Using the world-wide reach of the United Nations University, Pauli has recruited researchers and participants from places as diverse as Nepal, China, Barbados, and South Africa. With additional research support from major engineering firms, the project is likely to net favorable results. 

The brewery / fish farm project is a single application of the concept of zero emissions clusters. If successful, it promises to increase the efficiency of beer and fish production, while decreasing their environmental impact. It remains to be seen, however, if other such clusters will be identified and developed. As a feasibility study, the beer/fish connection can be a very poignant demonstration of the ZERI concept. For it to revolutionize manufacturing, as the ZERI charter indicates, the zero-emissions idea will have to take hold in the hearts and minds of member corporations. 

It is interesting to note that ZERI proceeds without any reference to industrial ecology or to sustainable development. Eliminating waste is presented primarily as a means by which to obtain maximum economic value from one's resources and maintain or enhance competitiveness, although reduction in environmental impact is also seen as a benefit. Gunter Pauli is more than anything else an entrepreneur, not an environmentalist. His is a strategic vision for industry, and it reaches the same conclusion as industrial ecology, which could just as easily be motivated by purely environmental and sustainability concerns as by business interests. Industrial ecologists have claimed that IE represents a (perhaps more appropriately the) convergence of environmental and business interests. The success of ZERI in developing what are essentially industrial ecosystems by appealing to traditional business interests would go a long way toward bearing out that claim. 

The ZERI charter (see box above) sets forth a transformational vision for manufacturing with the total elimination of waste and pollution as its goal. This is a significant undertaking, and it remains to be seen to what extent this vision is taken to heart by corporate participants (and to what extent corporations choose to participate). It is relevant to speculate as to why they would want to. The first of the ten tenets of the ZERI charter goes as follows: 

1. The members of the ZERI foundation realize that there is an urgent need to design corporate strategies and industrial policies based on the principle of sustainable social and economic development (emphasis in original). 

This is an altruistic reference that may or may not be a correct assessment of the present state of affairs. Does the manufacturing industry world-wide (or even in Japan) realize that there is a need to redesign their operations based on the notions of sustainable social and economic development? Do they agree on what these notions are? Do they have their own notions? Do they think about these things? 

Other tenets of the charter hint at economic gains to be made from the elimination of waste, while the second one subtly implies a role for public policy to 'get the prices right:' 

2. The members believe that the creation of value-added benefits for society are best supported through market mechanisms where competitive forces stimulate industry to eliminate all forms of waste. 

Market mechanisms and competitive forces sound like references to least-cost achievement of environmental performance goals, unless consumers show a marked market preference for products manufactured at zero-waste facilities. If the market forces and competitive pressures rely on getting the prices right, then zero emissions has to be least cost, or at least low enough cost to make it attractive given 'green image' benefits. If zero emissions is indeed least cost, and it may well be in some or many cases, then why isn't industry doing it now? This is not a rhetorical question, since there are many barriers, such as lack of institutional linkages and lack of interest - or people may just not have thought about it. But Kalundborg demonstrates that there is a broad class of zero-emissions or symbiotic linkages that are only economical as a result of public policy intervention in the market, either in the form of regulation or through direct price adjustments (i.e. taxes). So ZERI may well endorse this sort of intervention.  

In effect, Pauli is selling an ideology of manufacturing. On the pragmatic level, the charter offers two reasons why industry should be swept up in this transformation: the need for sustainable economic and social development, and economic gain. How compelling the first argument is remains an open question. The second issue, economic reasoning, lends itself more readily to evaluation. Manufacturing can reduce its costs by making more efficient uses of material inputs. But pollution has been the textbook case of an externality, because the generating entity does not bear its full cost. 'Dumping' a waste stream is in most cases less expensive than finding a good use for it. So green consumerism and public attempts at getting the prices right cannot be ignored if we want to bring about a zero emissions revolution. 

This discussion has so far focused on the ZERI charter, which is very interesting but comprises only a small part of the persuasive power of the initiative. At the helm of the project is Gunter Pauli, a charismatic man who may well be able to persuade decision makers on less than pragmatic (or other than pragmatic) grounds that zero emissions is the way to go. While most (all?) academic calls for industrial symbiosis, which ZERI is without saying so, proceed from the need for sustainable development, Pauli proceeds in large part from entrepreneurial considerations. According to documentation and personal communication, Pauli sees increasing demands for and decreasing supplies of particular commodities. The implication is that, for certain sectors and in the not-too-distant future, zero-emissions schemes will be economically beneficial without public policy intervention. 

The tangible elements of ZERI are three feasibility studies / demonstration projects. While all three offer significant potential, the clustering of beer brewing and aquaculture deserve mention in our context. Some additional comments regarding that undertaking are in order. 

The idea of identifying clusters of industries to co-locate and link up falls somewhere between the greenfield and brownfield endpoints [ The greenfield / brownfield distinction and its implications for industrial ecosystems are discussed in detail in Chapter 7. ] . It has characteristics of a greenfield in that it is assumed (or at least implied) that the facilities have not yet been built and therefore can be designed as a unit and to some extend co-optimized. It has the brownfield element that the specific industries are known. This hybrid approach, proceeding from the analytical identification of symbiotic clusters offers significant advantages over the green/brown endpoints. Because it (seems to) make its intervention before the plants in question are built, it offers the ability to ‘design-for-symbiosis’ which means that the cluster can be designed, or at least tweaked, from the perspective of the system it forms, not just of individual processes. 

The cluster idea also overcomes what appears to be a very significant difficulty of greenfield designs, that being the uncertainty and (likely?) lack of industry participants. At the risk of over-simplification, the greenfield approach stakes a flag in the ground and declares an ecopark, as though lighting the Olympic flame - let the games begin. But there is no guarantee, and indeed very serious reason to doubt, that industry will locate somewhere specifically because it is an ecopark. The eco-industrial park (EIP) idea defines ‘the system’ as the eco-park itself, which is not much more than a matrix for a symbiotic community. This avenue of development is discussed in detail in the next chapter. 

So the cluster idea is another take on defining ‘the system’ and one that can be very successful on the limited scale of what it is - that is to say, the systems intelligence is resident within a third-party who is ‘meta’ to the system, and so the scope of ecosystem development is limited by the organizing ability of the ‘meta’ analyst and change agent. Ultimately, we would like the system to self-organize toward industrial ecosystems. 

The cluster idea appears to offer a good chance of success, assuming the ‘right’ cluster is selected. It is limited in that it is not self-organizing, but it may turn out that the success of a limited number of symbiotic clusters will spur on the indigenous development of others. This is what the ZERI charter calls for, and the clustering of beer brewing and aquaculture is being advanced as a demonstration project. The bottom line is that this approach, the development of specific inter-industry clusters which are brought together by third-party intervention, promises to be the a fruitful way to proceed. 

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