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Toward successful industrial symbiosis implementation: An exploratory study on the UK sugar industry
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Zheng Liu ,
Yongjiang Shi,
Bo Yang
Journal of Cleaner Production, Volume: 525, Start page: 146552
Swansea University Author:
Bo Yang
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© 2025 The Authors. This is an open access article under the CC BY license.
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DOI (Published version): 10.1016/j.jclepro.2025.146552
Abstract
To minimize the detrimental effect of finite resources on the environment while realizing the maximum economic benefits of industrial production, industrial symbiosis (IS) has become a new strategic approach for an industrial ecosystem where underutilized resources from one company become the inputs...
| Published in: | Journal of Cleaner Production |
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| ISSN: | 0959-6526 |
| Published: |
Elsevier BV
2025
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| Online Access: |
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa70315 |
| Abstract: |
To minimize the detrimental effect of finite resources on the environment while realizing the maximum economic benefits of industrial production, industrial symbiosis (IS) has become a new strategic approach for an industrial ecosystem where underutilized resources from one company become the inputs for another. However, IS, while designed to optimize resource flows, can often fail and lead to sizable operational costs which hinder growth and competitiveness. This paper examines the key factors and motivations for companies to engage in IS activities. Our findings, based on case studies of the UK sugar industry, focusing on two leading producers and six IS projects, identify a set of five key stages for establishing an IS relationship and fostering the widespread of IS: identifying, analyzing, system reconfiguration, functional networking, and market entry. We discuss a range of practical and theoretical implications, shedding more light on the underlying mechanism that guides decision-making processes for achieving higher level of productivity circularity and efficiency. |
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| Keywords: |
Industrial symbiosis; Sustainable supply chain; Waste management; Sugar industry; Case study |
| College: |
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Funders: |
This work is supported by the Greenwich Research and Innovation Knowledge Exchange for Impact Fund (University of Greenwich). |
| Start Page: |
146552 |