Explaining Industrial Symbiosis Emergence, Development, and Disruption: A Multilevel Analytical Framework

Abstract

Summary Industrial symbiosis (IS) is the process by which by‐products are revalorized and exchanged among distinct business entities. The literature suggests that IS can bring financial, social, and environmental benefits to firms and society. Analytical tools have been developed for uncovering IS arrangements and guidelines suggested for designing IS arrangements where they do not yet exist. Despite these suggested benefits and in spite of these tools, few planned IS arrangements have successfully materialized, with notable exceptions in East Asia. Understanding why IS networks emerge and expand or falter requires both macro‐ and micro‐level analysis. Some explanatory factors have been extensively covered in the IS literature, such as the important role of coordinating organizations. But the analysis of enterprise‐level actions and strategies as well as the conditions in the external environment that act on the enterprises and the network are not as well examined. The article outlines an analytical framework that draws upon insights from research on cleaner production, corporate social responsibility, diffusion of innovation, and the role of the state in development. The framework is consistent with the view that the evolution of IS networks is characterized by “equifinality.” Different networks may achieve IS as a result of quite different combinations of factors. No general theory of IS success or decline is offered because no such theory can be expected. IS emergence, development, and disruption is approached as a problem of sociohistorical analysis. For such phenomena, analytical frameworks provide a common explanatory starting point, but no predictive power.

The Relevance of Circular Economy Practices to the Sustainable Development Goals

“…Two key enablers for IS are geographical proximity and external coordinators; however, long-distance IS exchanges without external coordinators can also be feasible (Prosman et al 2017), although they are less common. Due to the complexity of IS systems, its development and emergence is difficult to analyze and predict (Yap and Devlin 2017), posing no small challenges to industrial experts and developers. Specific challenges for the SDG context include the need for coordinating organizations to manage IS networks (Yap and Devlin 2017), the linking up of existing stand-alone facilities (Wolf and Petersson 2007) and financial barriers due to transport and processing costs of materials compared to low landfill costs (Lombardi and Laybourn 2012) in both developed and developing countries.…”

Developing and Understanding Design Interventions in Relation to Industrial Symbiosis Dynamics

“…Applying a design hypothesis enables the reflection on possible mechanisms and outcomes that can be observed and evaluated through iterative and incremental design interventions in similar contexts [36]. According to Yap and Devlin [24], the analytical approach on IS dynamics provides a scientifically sound explanation of historical events, but it has no predictive power. Although the Design Science approach does not provide comprehensive predictions on IS dynamics, it does contribute to gaining context specific insights on how certain design interventions within the context influence the symbiotic network behaviour and vice versa [25,34,35].…”

Institutional Lens upon Industrial Symbiosis Dynamics: The case of Persian Gulf Mining and Metal Industries Special Economic Zone

“…Even though the availability of matching waste sources and sinks is the starting point for symbiotic exchanges, different drivers can promote IS in various regulatory and institutional contexts [21]. To study IS, it is crucial to understand which motives and mechanisms influence IS emergence [14,22].…”