A framework for studying outcomes in industrial symbiosis

Christoffer Wadström, Maria Johansson and Magnus Wallén

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2021, vol. 151, issue C

Abstract: It is likely that different industrial symbiosis collaborations will have different sets of winners and losers when it comes to benefits or costs. In this study we present an analytical framework intended for evaluating a wide-range of industrial symbiosis outcomes that will aid in research design. The framework provide a base for including a broader, but also, specific set of effects and outcomes (economic, environmental and social), including a diverse set of clearly defined actors. Used consistently, the framework can average out costs and benefits across actors in the whole society, so that each actor is more likely to (over time) realize net positive outcomes from a full set of industrial symbiosis applications. The analytical framework is developed by combining theory and concepts from the system of national accounts, the planetary boundaries, and the social foundation. The analytical framework is then applied in a state of the art review, analysing value and benefits in 56 industrial symbiosis research articles. Besides providing a robust model for analysing industrial symbiosis, the results show that private market-based outcomes are the dominant form of economic value and that nonmarket valuations are completely absent. Environmental outcomes mainly consist of decreased CO2 emissions, chemical pollution and water use. Social outcomes include private income and work and network effects for the companies involved in the industrial symbiosis.

Keywords: Industrial symbiosis; Circular economy; Energy; Waste; Wastewater; Analytical framework; Economic value; Sustainability; State of the art review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2021.111526

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