Abstract
In the past decades, the eco-industrial concept, based on the ecological material flow and industrial symbiosis, has been introduced to many industrial parks, aiming to promote economic development and minimize environmental burdens in many countries. However, the eco-industrial park development programs could not completely solve the environmental problems, particularly in the case of a whole town or a county. An eco-county concept could be introduced into counties, which can be defined as a county towards circular economy and sustainability, which features low consumption of energy, low emission of pollutants, highly efficient use and recycling of resources, healthy living conditions, accessible transportation, and affordable residence. From that, the DPR Korean government launched a pilot project of eco-county in Kangryong. This article describes the eco-county development program, including background, geographical and climatological conditions, natural resources, general development programs, indigenous characteristics, challenges, and perspectives.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
All the data and materials are published with this article.
Code Availability
Not applicable.
References
Zhe L et al (2016) An emergy–based hybrid method for assessing industrial symbiosis of an industrial park. J Clean Prod 114:132–140
Nikolaou IE, Jones N, Stefanakis A (2021) Circular economy and sustainability: the past, the present and the future directions. Circ Econ Sust 1:1–20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43615-021-00030-3
Huang B et al (2019) Review of the development of china’s eco–industrial park standard system. Resour Conserv Recycl 140:137–144
Kalmykova Y et al (2018) Circular economy–from review of theories and practices to development of implementation tools. Resour Conserv Recycl 135:190–201
Harish K et al (2018) Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions from integrated organic farming: a systems approach considering rotation cycles. Sustainable Production and Consumption 13:60–79
Afshari H et al (2018) Challenges of value creation in eco–industrial parks (EIPs): a stakeholder perspective for optimizing energy exchanges. Resour Conserv Recycl 139:315–325
Jain KP, Pruyn J, Hopman H (2018) Strategic guidance based on the concept of cleaner production to improve the ship recycling industry. Environ Syst Decis 38:250–260
Toniolo S et al (2019) Mapping diffusion of environmental product declarations released by European program operators. Sustainable Production and Consumption 17:85–94
Del Borghi A et al (2018) Life cycle assessment for eco-design of product–package systems in the food industry—the case of legumes. Sustainable Production and Consumption 13:24–36
Jong HS (2014) Green model area to be set up in Kangnyong. The Pyongyang Times, Saturday, Oct. 4.
Nc O, Kim H (2019) Towards the 2°C goal: achieving sustainable development goal (SDG) 7 in DPR Korea. Resour Conserv Recycl 150:104412. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.104412
Funding
This study was supported by the KIM IL SUNG University, Pyongyang, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Concept, Yong-Nam Kim; methodology, Nam-Chol O and Yong-Nam Kim; analysis, Nam-Chol O; writing and review, Nam-Chol O and Yong-Nam Kim.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethics Approval
Not applicable.
Consent to Participate
Not applicable.
Consent for Publication
Not applicable.
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kim, YN., O, NC. Implementing a Pilot Scale-Eco-county Concept Towards Circular Economy and Sustainability. Circ.Econ.Sust. 2, 1187–1191 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43615-022-00156-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43615-022-00156-y