flow management, which is a goal-oriented,
responsible, holistic and efficient approach for
material-based systems. The goal of material
flow management is to use materials taken from
nature as intensively as possible in order to save
resources and avoid waste. The aim is to
decouple economic growth from the impact on
human health and the environment associated
with waste generation. Creating a more circular
economy that preserves the value of products,
substances and resources within the economy for
as long as possible and produces as little waste as
possible is a major contributor to achieving the
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs;
United Nations 2015), in particular goal 12,
responsible consumption and production,
through low carbon, resource efficient and competitive economy.
One implementation approach in industrial
ecology is industrial symbiosis, which involves
exploiting the interactions between business,
industry and the environment to improve
resource efficiency. The aim is to maximize the
sharing of water, energy and raw materials to
reduce the amount of waste or wastewater, generally inspired by the example of a natural
ecosystem in which everything is recycled. The
concept of industrial symbiosis originated in the
municipality of Kalundborg in Denmark (Hewes
and Lyons 2008; Massard et al. 2014; Kalundborg Symbiosis 2014; Chertow and Park 2016),
where the foundation stone for the first so-called
Eco-Industrial Park was laid in the 1970s
(Lambert and Boons 2002). Industrial symbiosis
enables companies to develop multilateral solutions for material and energy flows, thereby
reducing the overall environmental footprint left
by economic activity in a region (Hein et al.
2015; Chertow and Park 2016).
For many years, companies and institutions
around the world have sought to promote sustainability through industrial symbiosis. Due to
increased interest, industrial symbiosis was considered from different perspectives in different
countries. In the past, the variety of approaches
led to a lack of clear characterization in the literature. Currently, the most comprehensive
characterization is that of Boons et al. (2011),
which builds on the definition of Chertow
(2007), and takes into account both competitive
advantage through the exchange of physical
matter, and other social and geographical aspects.
According to Chertow (2007) “engaging traditionally separate industries in a collective
approach to competitive advantage including
physical exchange of materials, energy, water,
and by-products. The keys to industrial symbiosis
are collaboration and the synergistic possibilities offered by geographic proximity”. The
characterization of Boons provides a conceptual
framework for dynamic industrial cells that can
grow and evolve according to new market
requirements. The framework is divided into
three conceptual sections. The sections consist of
different sets of conditions, mechanisms of
transmission and the results achieved. The conditions for the development of industrial symbiosis include specific triggers as well as local
and commercial specificities, number, sector and
size of the companies and characteristics of the
actors involved, such as companies, administrations, planning authorities and associations.
Industrial symbiosis can take a variety of
forms and is also a form of “sharing economy”
(Rifkin 2011, 2014). The renunciation of ownership in favour of the acquisition of user rights
characterizes the economics of sharing. “Sharing
instead of owning” or “Benefiting instead of
owning” are the keywords of the sharing economy (Theurl 2015). The various implementation
forms for industrial symbiosis depend on the
prevailing technical and geographic framework
conditions. Typical forms of industrial symbiosis
include (Boons et al. 2011; von Hauff 2012):
• Sharing of residues, for instance, accumulated
residue/wastewater from company A can be
used as raw material/resources/process water
in company B;
• Sharing of emissions, for instance in the form
of heat exchange between companies;
• Infrastructure sharing, for example where
companies share common water treatment,
emergency power supply, rail connection, etc.;
204
J. von Koerber et al.
responsible, holistic and efficient approach for
material-based systems. The goal of material
flow management is to use materials taken from
nature as intensively as possible in order to save
resources and avoid waste. The aim is to
decouple economic growth from the impact on
human health and the environment associated
with waste generation. Creating a more circular
economy that preserves the value of products,
substances and resources within the economy for
as long as possible and produces as little waste as
possible is a major contributor to achieving the
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs;
United Nations 2015), in particular goal 12,
responsible consumption and production,
through low carbon, resource efficient and competitive economy.
One implementation approach in industrial
ecology is industrial symbiosis, which involves
exploiting the interactions between business,
industry and the environment to improve
resource efficiency. The aim is to maximize the
sharing of water, energy and raw materials to
reduce the amount of waste or wastewater, generally inspired by the example of a natural
ecosystem in which everything is recycled. The
concept of industrial symbiosis originated in the
municipality of Kalundborg in Denmark (Hewes
and Lyons 2008; Massard et al. 2014; Kalundborg Symbiosis 2014; Chertow and Park 2016),
where the foundation stone for the first so-called
Eco-Industrial Park was laid in the 1970s
(Lambert and Boons 2002). Industrial symbiosis
enables companies to develop multilateral solutions for material and energy flows, thereby
reducing the overall environmental footprint left
by economic activity in a region (Hein et al.
2015; Chertow and Park 2016).
For many years, companies and institutions
around the world have sought to promote sustainability through industrial symbiosis. Due to
increased interest, industrial symbiosis was considered from different perspectives in different
countries. In the past, the variety of approaches
led to a lack of clear characterization in the literature. Currently, the most comprehensive
characterization is that of Boons et al. (2011),
which builds on the definition of Chertow
(2007), and takes into account both competitive
advantage through the exchange of physical
matter, and other social and geographical aspects.
According to Chertow (2007) “engaging traditionally separate industries in a collective
approach to competitive advantage including
physical exchange of materials, energy, water,
and by-products. The keys to industrial symbiosis
are collaboration and the synergistic possibilities offered by geographic proximity”. The
characterization of Boons provides a conceptual
framework for dynamic industrial cells that can
grow and evolve according to new market
requirements. The framework is divided into
three conceptual sections. The sections consist of
different sets of conditions, mechanisms of
transmission and the results achieved. The conditions for the development of industrial symbiosis include specific triggers as well as local
and commercial specificities, number, sector and
size of the companies and characteristics of the
actors involved, such as companies, administrations, planning authorities and associations.
Industrial symbiosis can take a variety of
forms and is also a form of “sharing economy”
(Rifkin 2011, 2014). The renunciation of ownership in favour of the acquisition of user rights
characterizes the economics of sharing. “Sharing
instead of owning” or “Benefiting instead of
owning” are the keywords of the sharing economy (Theurl 2015). The various implementation
forms for industrial symbiosis depend on the
prevailing technical and geographic framework
conditions. Typical forms of industrial symbiosis
include (Boons et al. 2011; von Hauff 2012):
• Sharing of residues, for instance, accumulated
residue/wastewater from company A can be
used as raw material/resources/process water
in company B;
• Sharing of emissions, for instance in the form
of heat exchange between companies;
• Infrastructure sharing, for example where
companies share common water treatment,
emergency power supply, rail connection, etc.;
204
J. von Koerber et al.