Linking Industrial Symbiosis and the Circular Economy

Dear Colleagues,

The circular economy has emerged as a leading concept under the sustainable development umbrella. It has been encouraged by the World Economic Forum and adopted by jurisdictions as disparate as the European Union and China. It is based on “the principles of designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use and regenerating natural systems” (ellenmacarthurfoundation.org). Its genesis is linked to a number of initiatives undertaken over a relatively long period of time.

To many, that might sound familiar to the thesis advocated by Stahel in the mid-1970s at the Product Life Institute, who advocated a “closed-loop approach to production processes”. His work and that of others in the environmental movement which took hold at that time, led to recycling programs in many parts of the world. One of the first recycling laws was passed in the U.S. state of Oregon in 1971, mandating deposits on beverage containers, resulting in the recovery and recycling of steel and aluminum. “Reduce, reuse and recycle” became the mantra.

Recycling, however, has a much longer long history. When resources become scarce for any number of reasons, including war, governments, people and industries have found ways of recovering valuable materials. Talbot, in a book titled “Millions from Waste” published in 1920, describes the recovery and recycling of many materials that were needed during and following World War I.

One of the manifestations of recycling which has gained considerable attention from industrial ecologists is industrial symbiosis (IS). The focus has largely been on industrial waste and by-products. While there is debate about whether industrial ecology is a sub-field of the science of ecology such as urban ecology and forest ecology, it has adopted some of the language of ecology. Symbiosis is one of those terms, and is essentially the interaction of two different organisms for the benefit of one or both.  Industrial symbiosis itself has emerged largely due to the findings of the Kalundborg, Denmark regional industrial symbiosis. Chertow (2000) has defined IS as “traditionally separate industries engaged in a collective approach to competitive advantage involving physical exchange of materials, energy, water and by-products”. The exchange of resources and by-products identified in Kalundborg were undertaken because it was mutually beneficial to do so.

Since the identification of the regional industrial symbiosis in Kalundborg in the early 1990s, efforts have been made by researchers to find other symbiotic arrangements between industries in locations elsewhere, or to explore opportunities to create them. Many case studies have been published in the academic literature. (Chertow, 2007).

While IS has generally involved the direct physical exchange of materials, energy and by-products through pipelines and transportation systems, the circular economy advocates a wider range of recovery systems. In 1992, a group of multi-disciplinary researchers at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada began investigating the idea of industrial parks as ecosystems. Among other things, one of their key findings was the existence of a circular economy within the park-adjacent community. The researchers found that 15% of the 1200 businesses in the park used recovered, reused, remanufactured, repaired, reclaimed or recycled materials and products, in whole or in part. The exchanges were not usually direct, as they were mediated by what became known as scavenger and decomposer businesses. This, in fact, is the manner in which materials and energy are recovered, reused and recycled in natural ecological systems.

When the Ellen MacArthur Foundation popularized the circular economy and attracted the attention of groups such as the World Economic Forum, they described a system which is very similar. While not exclusive, a circular economy emphasizes materials and products of all kinds, while industrial symbiosis has largely focused on industrial waste and by-products. Some of the questions then, are:  What is the link between industrial symbiosis and the circular economy? Is industrial symbiosis simply one strategy for implementing the circular economy? Should the recovery and exchange of industrial wastes and by-products be given pride of place in a circular economy? Is industrial symbiosis, which has been difficult to achieve in practice, likely to flourish because of the interest in the circular economy? Are different incentives needed to support industrial symbiosis than those required to encourage a circular economy or are they complementary?? Are the barriers to the symbiotic exchange of industrial wastes similar to those involved in the many strategies of a circular economy? How important is the nurturing of “scavenger and decomposer” companies in a circular economy? Can linking industrial symbiosis with the circular economy aid in minimizing the risks often associated with the former? And finally, case studies that describe how industrial symbiosis contributes to a local or regional circular economy are of particular interest.

Reference:

Chertow, Marian R. 2000. Industrial symbiosis: Literature and taxonomy. Ann.Rev. Energy and Environment. 25: 313-337

Chertow, Marian R. 2007. Uncovering industrial symbiosis. J. Ind Ecol. Vol. 10, No.1 p 1-20

Geng, Y. and R.P.Cote. 2009. Scavengers and decomposers in an eco-industrial park. Int. J. Sustainable Development and World Ecology. Vol. 9, No.4.

Stahel, W and G.Reday.  1976. The Potential for Substituting Manpower for Energy. Report for the Commission of the European Communities. Brusssels.

Talbot, F. A. A. 1920. Millions from Waste. J.B.Lippincott Co. London. 308pp.

Prof. emer. Raymond P. Cote
Guest Editor

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• industrial symbiosis
• circular economy
• linkage
• case studies
• barriers
• risks
• benefits