Industrial ecology network optimization with life cycle metrics

Industrial ecology suggests innovative pathways for re-use and recovery of waste streams, but efforts to establish eco-industrial networks have encountered both technical and institutional barriers. To help overcome these challenges, an Industrial Ecosystem Toolkit has been developed to quantify how such collaborative networks can reduce costs, employ assets more efficiently, increase revenue, reduce risks, and conserve natural resources. The tools draw upon methods from network flow optimization modeling and environmental life cycle assessment, and enable real-time, interactive use by decision makers. Working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Business Council for Sustainable Development, and other regional organizations, the Center for Resilience has applied these innovative tools to promote a systems approach based on sound science and informed decision-making. Future work will develop network models that represent synergies among industrial and ecological processes.