Toward successful industrial symbiosis implementation: An exploratory study on the UK sugar industry

Obetta, Chukwuebuka Jude; Liu, Zheng; Shi, Yongjiang; Yang, Bo

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2025.146552

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Toward successful industrial symbiosis implementation: An exploratory study on the UK sugar industry

Chukwuebuka Jude Obetta

, Zheng Liu

, Yongjiang Shi, Bo Yang

Journal of Cleaner Production, Volume: 525, Start page: 146552

Swansea University Author: Bo Yang

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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...

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Published in:	Journal of Cleaner Production
ISSN:	0959-6526
Published:	Elsevier BV 2025
Online Access:	Check full text
URI:	https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa70315

first_indexed	2025-09-06T10:23:57Z
last_indexed	2025-10-21T06:06:17Z
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spelling	2025-10-20T14:58:52.9907401 v2 70315 2025-09-06 Toward successful industrial symbiosis implementation: An exploratory study on the UK sugar industry d8e17e56a3b9484ba22c3d43807c83bd 0000-0001-5834-6002 Bo Yang Bo Yang true false 2025-09-06 SOSS 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. Journal Article Journal of Cleaner Production 525 146552 Elsevier BV 0959-6526 Industrial symbiosis; Sustainable supply chain; Waste management; Sugar industry; Case study 20 9 2025 2025-09-20 10.1016/j.jclepro.2025.146552 COLLEGE NANME Social Sciences School COLLEGE CODE SOSS Swansea University Another institution paid the OA fee This work is supported by the Greenwich Research and Innovation Knowledge Exchange for Impact Fund (University of Greenwich). 2025-10-20T14:58:52.9907401 2025-09-06T11:17:38.3927232 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Social Sciences - Economics Chukwuebuka Jude Obetta 0009-0005-9307-5267 1 Zheng Liu 0000-0001-7240-3501 2 Yongjiang Shi 3 Bo Yang 0000-0001-5834-6002 4 70315__35281__56451b76fc54432b9fcebde3a9101a7c.pdf jcp2025.pdf 2025-10-08T11:18:11.1950745 Output 2882086 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2025 The Authors. This is an open access article under the CC BY license. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title	Toward successful industrial symbiosis implementation: An exploratory study on the UK sugar industry
spellingShingle	Toward successful industrial symbiosis implementation: An exploratory study on the UK sugar industry Bo Yang
title_short	Toward successful industrial symbiosis implementation: An exploratory study on the UK sugar industry
title_full	Toward successful industrial symbiosis implementation: An exploratory study on the UK sugar industry
title_fullStr	Toward successful industrial symbiosis implementation: An exploratory study on the UK sugar industry
title_full_unstemmed	Toward successful industrial symbiosis implementation: An exploratory study on the UK sugar industry
title_sort	Toward successful industrial symbiosis implementation: An exploratory study on the UK sugar industry
author_id_str_mv	d8e17e56a3b9484ba22c3d43807c83bd
author_id_fullname_str_mv	d8e17e56a3b9484ba22c3d43807c83bd_***_Bo Yang
author	Bo Yang
author2	Chukwuebuka Jude Obetta Zheng Liu Yongjiang Shi Bo Yang
format	Journal article
container_title	Journal of Cleaner Production
container_volume	525
container_start_page	146552
publishDate	2025
institution	Swansea University
issn	0959-6526
doi_str_mv	10.1016/j.jclepro.2025.146552
publisher	Elsevier BV
college_str	Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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hierarchy_top_title	Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id	facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title	Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str	School of Social Sciences - Economics{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Social Sciences - Economics
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description	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.
published_date	2025-09-20T05:30:33Z
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Toward successful industrial symbiosis implementation: An exploratory study on the UK sugar industry

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