6.17.2008 - 12:44pm ET

(CSRwire) - June 17, 2008 - Two organizations working on opposite sides of the Atlantic to implement sustainable development have joined forces to expand the scope of their by-product synergy and industrial symbiosis programs.

The United States Business Council for Sustainable Development and International Synergies Limited signed an agreement to pool their resources and expertise on future projects.

The U.S. BCSD, based in Austin, Texas, is a non-profit association of businesses that in the 1990s developed a process called by-product synergy, in which one company’s waste is transformed into raw materials for another company. These synergies reduce waste, promote the efficient use of natural resources, and create a legally protected forum in which companies can explore reuse opportunities.The process can also reduce climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions.

International Synergies Limited, based in Birmingham, England and registered in England and Wales, has developed the award-winning National Industrial Symbiosis Program, which evolved from the by-product synergy approach. The program is reducing the environmental impacts of business in the UK, cut CO2 emissions by more than 2 million tons between 2005 and 2007, and is on target to deliver 5 percent of the UK’s Kyoto Protocol commitment by 2011.

By working together, the two groups hope to expand their networks, share case studies, and create more opportunities for synergies worldwide. During a recent week-long visit to the UK, representatives of the US BCSD toured the country’s largest animal by-product recycler to see how meat and bone meal from cattle is recovered and reused in place of virgin materials in cement production. Back in the U.S., the business council has implemented projects with public and private-sector partners in Kansas City, Chicago, and Seattle, and is developing others in Mobile, Central Ohio, Houston, and Boston.

"This collaboration brings together two successful programs focused on finding and implementing industrial synergies," said Andrew Mangan, executive director of the US BCSD. "Bridging these programs will benefit communities in the US, the UK and elsewhere by making it possible for participants to cut costs, achieve efficiencies and reduce pollution, including greenhouse gases."

Peter Laybourn, chief executive of International Synergies Limited, agreed. "Joining forces with the US-BCSD will help to develop the NISP program further in the UK by sharing examples of best practice." He added that each program will learn from the barriers the other has experienced and together, they will be better positioned to help promote a worldwide sustainable economy

For more on the US BCSD, visit http://usbcsd.org/
For more on International Synergies Limited, go to http://www.international-synergies.com/

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