Strategic system building as tool to increase collaboration and efficiency in the circular economy - a case study of the collaborative waste project 'Amsterdam Zuidoost Circulair'

Strategic collaboration in networks of industry actors, including government and users, promises a faster transition to a circular economy. Collaboration between actors is an important prerequisite for industrial symbiosis. A... [ view full abstract ]

Strategic collaboration in networks of industry actors, including government and users, promises a faster transition to a circular economy. Collaboration between actors is an important prerequisite for industrial symbiosis. A strategic and systemic approach is necessary for efficient use of resources and to create synergies. The 'Strategy Framework for Collective System Building' is a strategy tool which can be used by collaborating networks to build up an innovation system around sustainability innovations. The framework gives a comprehensive overview of activities which networks of actors can conduct in four strategic areas: to develop and optimize their new technology, to trigger necessary societal changes, to create markets for their products and most importantly to coordinate their actions. The framework can help innovative network actors to set goals and objectives, and promises to increase the success of an innovative technology. However, it has not yet been tested for its applicability in Circular Economy projects. The aim of this study is to investigate how the Strategy Framework for Collective System Building can be used for strategy making in industrial symbiosis projects. Therefore, we conduct a case study on the collaborative waste project 'Amsterdam Zuidoost Circulair' of the Amsterdam Cross Chain Collaboration Centre. In this project, several companies in a specific region (Amsterdam Zuidoost) collaborate to combine their waste streams, shift from individual to collective waste collection, and from decentralized to centralized and local waste treatment in a shared biogas plant. The aims of the project are to reduce CO₂ emissions from waste transportation, to increase resource efficiency, and to generate energy for the local community, thereby trying to 'close the loop'. Interviews with key actors of the project and a focus group session will be conducted, to investigate the applicability of the Strategic System Building Framework for circular economy projects. An expected result will be an adjusted strategy framework for system building, which will serve as starting point for further research in different industrial symbiosis projects.

Key words: network collaboration; system-building; innovation ecosystem; circular economy; waste reduction