‘This is a wonderful book that should be on the desk of every architect and planner. It shows how

Box 47 Wagga Wagga Eco-industrial Park
Sharon Stacy
In 2001, the Laminex factory in regional Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia, decommissioned and 
sold its medium-density fibreboard (MDF) plant, leaving 220 employees without immediate 
employment. Riverina Investments, which was to become a three-way partnership, was in
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corporated that year for the purpose of acquiring the industrial property, comprising 25,000 
square metres of high span buildings situated on approximately 116 hectares on the Bomen 
Industrial Estate. Although the main role of Riverina Investments was as landlord, it has taken 
on a secondary role, supporting the tenants to achieve resource efficiencies.
This role followed from an endogenous initiative by existing industries within the region called 
the Innovative Resource Management Group (IRM). The IRM consisted of multinational in
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dustries in collaboration with the local university and local government support. To pursue 
the original IRM goals, Riverina Investments actively:
• 
Encourages compatible industries onto the industrial site that ‘fit’ in terms of resource 
requirements and by-product opportunities.
• 
Engages Zero Waste Australia (ZWA), a not-for-profit NGO, to come onto the site and 
facilitate the efficiency and synergy outcomes across all industries.
At a time when the outsourcing of physical and intellectual labour to China and India was 
growing in Australia, recycling and sustainable industries were identified as secure future 
domestic industries. The cost of transport secures these industries on-shore. Examples of 
the tenants are:
• 
Specialized Packaging Services, which is developing a new lightweight, recycled plastic 
pallet and packaging. Its features are the capacity for the 3kg pallet to support a 
one ton payload; the capacity to stack 100 unused pallets 2.2m high; and alignment 
with quarantine requirements which prohibit timber that harbours micro and macro 
organisms.
• 
Marvel Glass, which applies recycled glass technology to create an alternative to marble, 
ceramic and stone. The translucence enables lighting from behind, and the hard, non-
porous material is a good alternative in chemically active areas such as laboratory 
benches. Marvel Glass uses a waste product as the primary input and relatively low 
temperatures in production.
• 
The Bio-Recycle group of companies, which specializes in creating organic waste 
recycling solutions. These solutions incorporate a range of processes and technologies 
built on many years of industry experience. The aim of the group is to design 
responsible programmes that maximize the return of valuable organics to the earth. It 
is able to manage many types or organic waste materials from a diverse range of waste 
producers, serving wool combing, abattoir, food processing and sale yard industries 
within the eco-industrial park.
Riverina Investments has provided ZWA with an office and support. ZWA is in turn applying 
its domestic and international networks to synergies. Current activities include: 
• 
Mapping flows to identify resource requirements, waste and by-product streams.
• 
Creating a network structure across industry at the CEO level and the production 
management level to identify specific industry needs.
• 
Networking industries with its consulting directories to stimulate innovation.
A project is under way to treat pre-existing toxic sludge ponds on-site with natural biocon-
version systems. The resulting water and fertilizer will be transferred to an adjacent farm.
This is a linear system that converts existing waste to a valuable resource, increasing natural 
capital and natural security.
By 2006, almost all the 220 jobs lost when the factory closed had been re-established and the 
implementation of sustainable core values continues to expand.

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Positive Development