WHAT IS INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY?
With peak oil, peak food and peak population terms grabbing newspaper headlines you would be forgiven for thinking that there's little Wagga Wagga can do to take a leading role in attempting to help solve these global issues.
The very nature of these issues requires a commitment to sustainability. While this may seem obvious, establishing a framework that enables and moderates sustainable outcomes in the industrial and manufacturing sectors across multiple land users is challenging. That's why when the City of Wagga Wagga adopted the Bomen Strategic Master Plan in December 2009 it placed a strong emphasis on Industrial Ecology.
While the term Industrial Ecology sounds rather complicated it doesn't have to be. By using the by-products of one system as an input into another, Industrial Ecology encourages and empowers industries to rise above conventional solutions or thinking when dealing with its waste products. For example, water used in some manufacturing processes can be infused with other metal and salts. Each of these components are valuable resources and if correct systems are employed to recover the water for reuse and process the metals and minerals, additional value is created, especially where a manufacturing neighbour can use these by-products. Industrial Ecology results in overall minimal waste and maximum reuse in turn containing or closing the loop in the energy and material cycles within the Business Park.
