The European Commission adopted the new Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) in March 2020. It is one of the main building blocks of the European Green Deal, Europe’s new agenda for sustainable growth. The EU’s transition to a circular economy will reduce pressure on natural resources and will create sustainable growth and jobs. It is also a prerequisite to achieve the EU’s 2050 climate neutrality target and to halt biodiversity loss.
The new action plan announces initiatives along the entire life cycle of products. It targets how products are designed, promotes circular economy processes, encourages sustainable consumption, and aims to ensure waste prevention and to keep the resources used in the EU economy for as long as possible.
One of the perspectives from which this transition towards a circular economy can be promoted in the industrial sphere is Industrial Symbiosis.
Industrial Symbiosis
Industrial Symbiosis is defined as relationships between different companies or industrial sectors, that achieve competitive advantages through the exchange of resources via innovative collaborations, finding ways to use, i.e. the waste of one as raw material for another
It is important to define the type of resources that are not only materials (wastes or by-products), but also other resources such as energy, water, etc. Moreover, it is remarkable that Industrial Symbiosis does not have to involve a direct flow of materials and can be related to a way of using resources more efficiently, such as sharing infrastructure or equipment
Synergies can be classified as follows:
Mutuality: To share the use of services, facilities or infrastructures (i.e. waste management, energy consumption, training, etc.).
Substitution: To exchange a resource between companies in which the exchanged resource forms part of the industrial process of the company that receives it (i.e. exchange of by-products, waste, waste heat, etc.).
Genesis: To create a new activity for using a resource of any flow or company.
The first and best-known example of the establishment of symbiotic networks is found in the municipality of Kalundborg (Denmark). In this case, the symbiosis originated from the scarce availability of underground water and the need for a source of surface water that, once identified, became a key part of the resource exchange network. Symbiosis in Kalundborg arose from a private initiative to achieve business objectives such as reducing costs, increasing revenue, business expansion and long-term security.
Steps to follow
One of the methodologies to obtain synergies in a determined area is:
Census of economic activities. This first stage allows to identify economic activities in the area of study.
Census of resources. The objective of this step is to map the inflows and outflows of their resources, obtaining a census of resources with which to cross-reference those offered with those demanded, taking into account all the participating companies.
At this point, it can be chosen between individual meetings or a matching session or workshop (Figure 1). The choice depends on the quantity of companies involved in this area. In the case of a few quantities of companies, the best option is to conduct interviews with each of them.
Feasibility analysis and start-up. Once the study has been carried out, the possible synergies are analysed, of which it is necessary to carry out a feasibility technical, economical and sustainable analysis for their subsequent implementation.
Workshop in the Spanish Port of Valencia in the framework of the SIMVAL project (19th June 2019).
Taking into account that Industrial Symbiosis is a tool to improve sustainability and contribute to the transition to a Circular Economy, its applications have gradually flourished in many sectors and areas, such as the seaports. The procedure explained above allowed us to analyse the Industrial Symbiosis potential in the Port of Valencia community. It can be concluded that the proposed methodology, including company profiling, provides useful managerial tools for mapping Industrial Symbiosis possibilities and developing them further in communities interested in fostering Industrial Symbiosis to reduce their environmental impact and achieve more sustainable development.