Initiating resource partnerships for industrial symbiosis

Industrial symbiosis is a strategy to limit carbon emissions whilst promoting resource efficiency and business development. This study interprets industrial symbiosis as waste-to-resource innovation. Understanding how these... [ view full abstract ]

Industrial symbiosis is a strategy to limit carbon emissions whilst promoting resource efficiency and business development. This study interprets industrial symbiosis as waste-to-resource innovation. Understanding how these innovations are actually realised, and hence how they can be promoted by public and private partners, is still limited. Particularly initiating resource partnerships for waste-to-resource innovations in the absence of a government-funded facilitator, such as previously the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme in the UK, has remained underexplored. This presentation will explore how companies identify potential resource partners in terms of a) network and b) geographic distances. Based on case studies of waste-to-resource innovation in the Humber region, UK, this study concludes that a) companies identify resource partners among/ through their direct contacts that are involved in resource management themselves and b) that ca. 73% of these connections are located within a 75 miles radius. Furthermore, various new types of ‘facilitators’ were identified, demonstrating the need for a refined government approach to facilitate industrial symbiosis as part of the wider transition towards the circular economy.

Keywords: Self-organised industrial symbiosis; Networks; Geographic proximity;  Circular bio-economy; Business strategies