Industrial Symbiosis Co.

Industrial Symbiosis Limited (commonly known as 'ISCo') is a 'not for profit' private company limited by guarantee.

Formally incorporated on 2nd February, 2005, the company focuses on the development and promotion of industrial symbiosis, the continued delivery of the highly successful UK National Programme (NISP) and the wide scale adoption of resource efficiencies through the promotion of sustainable consumption and production.

ISCo's vision is to deliver a series of programmes and services that educate, communicate and facilitate the cultural change required to enable companies, organisations and governments to adopt industrial symbiosis as part of everyday business practice. In fulfilment of its vision, ISCo aims to persuade business that changes which result in measurable environmental and social benefits and make a significant contribution to international sustainability, can be both practical and profitable.

Structure
ISCo incorporates a number of wholly owned subsidiaries:

• NISP Limited
• Industrial Symbiosis (Africa) Limited
• Industrial Symbiosis (Asia) Limited
• Industrial Symbiosis (Europe) Limited
• Industrial Symbiosis (Latin America & Caribbean) Limited
• Industrial Symbiosis (North America) Limited
• Industrial Symbiosis (Oceania) Limited

Objectives
All monies received by ISCo go to carry out the company's objects which are as follows:

• maximise participation in the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (NISP);
• establish and operate a national, cross sector network of regional industrial symbiosis advisory groups;
• provide advice to regional partners on the implementation of the NISP;
• implement and operate a web-based data collection system for the purpose of identifying industrial synergies between participants;
• establish and promote national and international partnerships with interested public or private bodies and organisations;
• promulgate industrial ecology best practice, strategy development, technology transfer and innovation;
• provide cross sector training to raise awareness of the NISP and related opportunities; and
• create resource efficiencies generally through the promotion of sustainable consumption and production.

Board
ISCo Board consist of executive and non-executive Directors. Chaired by Paul Ekins,Professor of Energy and Environment Policy at King's College London.The Board also includes an observer from Defra.

Subsidiaries and contracts
Whilst ISCo receives funding for the NISP in England from Defra (BREW), funds for Wales (Welsh Assembly Government), Scotland (Scottish Executive, SEPA and Scottish Enterprise), and Northern Ireland (Invest Northern Ireland) are received directly through NISP Limited.

ISCo and NISP Limited are also the grant holders for a number of NISP related BREW regional development agency funded projects.

The activities and interests of ISCo (and its subsidiaries) are not limited to the UK.

ISCo activity
ISCo's income is currently derived from the following sources:

• NISP grant funding from Defra (BREW) and devolved administrations;
• RDA project support and regional BREW funding;
• European Structural Funds - ERDF; and
• International development contracts.

ISCo Board

Professor Paul Ekins (Chairman)
MSc Economics and PhD Economics
Professor of Energy & Environmental Policy,Energy Institute, University College London

Paul Ekins joined University College London (UCL) as Professor of Energy & Environment Policy at the UCL Energy Institute in August 2009.

Prior to this, he was Professor of Energy and Environment Policy at King’s College London after a number of years as Head of the Environment Group at the Policy Studies Institute and Professor of Sustainable Development at the University of Westminster.

Paul is a Founder and Associate Director of the sustainable development charity Forum for the Future and a specialist adviser to the Environmental Audit Committee of the House of Commons. He is also a Co-Director of the UK Energy Research Centre, in charge of its Energy Systems and Modelling theme.

Paul was a Member of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution from 2002-2008 and was on the UK Government’s Sustainable Energy Policy Advisory Board from 2003-2007.

Pauls’ academic work focuses on the conditions and policies for achieving an environmentally sustainable economy. He has made contributions in many areas relating to sustainable development and environmental policy, including the conceptualisation and measurement of environmental sustainability, the adjustment of the national accounts to take account of environmental impacts, environmental taxes and ecological tax reform, and environment and trade.He also has extensive experience consulting for business, government and international organisations.

He is the author of numerous papers and articles, and his most recent book is Economic Growth and Environmental Sustainability: the Prospects for Green Growth (Routledge, London, 2000). Forthcoming co-edited books include Understanding the Costs of Environmental Regulation (Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, 2009), Trade, Globalization, and Sustainability Impact Assessment: A Critical Look at Methods and Outcomes (Earthscan, London, 2009) and Carbon-Energy Taxation: Lessons from Europe (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2009).

In 1994 Paul Ekins received a Global 500 Award ‘for outstanding environmental achievement’ from the United Nations Environment Programme. In 2006 he was cited in a special survey by the Environment Agency (England and Wales) as among ‘The 100 greatest eco-heroes of all time’ and in 2008 the Independent on Sunday placed him in its ‘Green List’ of ‘Britain’s Top 100 Environmentalists’.

Peter Laybourn (Chief Executive)
Executive Director, National Industrial Symbiosis Programme
Executive Director, International Synergies Limited

After graduating from university in 1977 with a degree in Economics and Ecology, Peter spent 18 years in the aerospace manufacturing industry as contracts and commercial manager at GEC Marconi, Smiths Industries and Meggitt Aviation & Marine. After completing a second degree in environmental management, he went on to work as environmental co-ordinator for a local authority, where he helped to set up an Eco-Management and Audit Scheme and an energy efficiency charity.

He was originally inspired to create NISP after first hearing from Andy Mangan at the US BCSD about by-product synergy programmes operating in the Gulf of Mexico. At this time, he was working as a sustainability consultant with Shell Exploration and Production. Using his wealth of expertise, Peter has also put together two widely recognised national educational programmes - Energy Matters and Education for Sustainable Development.

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