Eco-Industrial Parks in the Mexico-US Border Region: A feasibility study

Abstract

This project focuses on finding the feasibility for Eco-Industrial Parks (EIPs) in the Mexico-U.S. Border Region. EIPs are communities of businesses, from different sectors of industry, that cooperate with each other to efficiently share resources (information, materials, water, energy, infrastructure and, specially, residual materials that would otherwise enter as waste streams or be released as pollution), leading to economic gains, improved environmental quality, and enhancement of human resources for business and local community (PCSD, 1997). The project analyzes potential opportunities of material exchange with a variety of wasted resources generated by industrial plants on the Mexico-US border (maquiladoras), using a by-product exchange representation of an EIP. It concentrates on the region of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, the sister-border town of El Paso, Texas, one of the most industrialized border cities with high maquiladora activity. The methods used to gather data for the study consisted of interviews that identified the most prominent material flows from different sectors of maquiladoras of Ciudad Juarez, and a literature search on existing EIPs around the world to gather data on the most common by-products utilized through their exchanges. The project then considered the economic and environmental benefits, and regulatory and industrial issues surrounding a potential EIP By- Product Station. The study shows that there is not a good match between current waste-streams and by-product utilization potential of existing plants.