Technical Viability Analysis of Industrial Synergies—An Applied Framework Perspective

Rui Dias, João Azevedo, Inês Ferreira, Marco Estrela, Juan Henriques, Cristina Ascenço and Muriel Iten
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Rui Dias: Low Carbon & Resource Efficiency, R&Di, Instituto de Soldadura e Qualidade, 4415-491 Grijó, Portugal
João Azevedo: Low Carbon & Resource Efficiency, R&Di, Instituto de Soldadura e Qualidade, 4415-491 Grijó, Portugal
Inês Ferreira: Low Carbon & Resource Efficiency, R&Di, Instituto de Soldadura e Qualidade, 4415-491 Grijó, Portugal
Marco Estrela: Low Carbon & Resource Efficiency, R&Di, Instituto de Soldadura e Qualidade, Taguspark, 2740-120 Oeiras, Portugal
Juan Henriques: Low Carbon & Resource Efficiency, R&Di, Instituto de Soldadura e Qualidade, 4415-491 Grijó, Portugal
Cristina Ascenço: R&Di Programs and Business Incubation, R&Di, Instituto de Soldadura e Qualidade, Taguspark, 2740-120 Oeiras, Portugal
Muriel Iten: Low Carbon & Resource Efficiency, R&Di, Instituto de Soldadura e Qualidade, 4415-491 Grijó, Portugal

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 18, 1-15

Abstract: To foster the implementation of Industrial Symbiosis, several support tools have been developed to facilitate the dissemination of Industrial Symbiosis (IS) and the engagement of stakeholders; the establishment of exchanges between companies, the so-called synergies; and the assessment of impacts and benefits. Despite this, it has been found that stakeholders still do not have a clear envisioning of the required steps to the technical implementation of synergies and there are no facilitating tools, such as methodologies, frameworks, modelling tools, and databases, among others, that aid to technically support decision-making of synergy implementation. Thus, the goal of this paper is to present a dedicated framework that provides a set of guidelines and defines a technical viability analysis to support the implementation of potential synergies, which can be used and replicated by any IS practitioner. It comprehends a methodological approach to assess the compliance of a given synergy opportunity; its characterization concerning the definition of the necessary intermediary steps for the technical implementation; and an assessment of the technical feasibility of the synergy. The implementation of the framework allowed the successful technical validation of the studied synergy opportunities, providing a final technical viability assessment that can support decision-making of technology selection and synergy implementation.

Keywords: Industrial Symbiosis; IS framework; technical viability analysis; synergy compliance; synergy feasibility; technology selection; synergy Implementation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:18:p:7720-:d:415507

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