Small-scale eco-industrial networking: interorganisational collaboration to yield system wide benefits in communities

Abstract

Eco-Industrial Networking (EIN) supports collaborative partnerships, or networks, between businesses, local governments, and the wider community aiming at more efficient and ecological resource use. EIN is the application of industrial ecology, emphasising systems, food chains, and life cycles to maximise resource efficiencies and minimise environmental impacts. EIN has traditionally focused on large-scale industries or industrial parks, but has not included roles for the surrounding residential and commercial community in "industrial ecosystems". Meanwhile, sustainable community literature and initiatives have overlooked roles for the industrial community. EIN implemented at a smaller community-scale, should yield the same economic, social and environmental benefits as in the larger setting, while also working to bridge the business and wider community. This paper examines the opportunities to apply EIN at the smaller scale in Langley, British Columbia, Canada, including suggestions for interorganisational collaboration, and the potential benefits that small-scale EIN could achieve.