The benefits

Industrial symbiosis offers many economic benefits to companies: its value can derive from selling or exchanging industrial waste, saving costs on raw materials, cutting expenses linked to waste disposal and expanding market reach and revenue from by-products. Industrial symbiosis is a key enabling component of circular economy, helping industries transition from expensive and unsustainable production systems to viable, income-generating and greener manufacturing designs.

Transfer and sharing of resources between industrial sites means less sourcing of raw materials, more recycling of energy and water and less waste going to landfill. This has a major impact on the environment as it avoids overexploiting land, water shortages and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. The industrial sector account for 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Industrial symbiosis can help reduce this impact and contribute to meeting the requirements of the Paris agreement.

Implementing circular industrial systems based on resource sharing and reuse allows neighbouring regions and cities, and their populations, to benefit from greener ecosystems with less strain on local resources, stronger regional economies and increased employment opportunities. It leads the pathway and sets an example for sustainable product manufacturing and use, with a major impact on territorial conservation and reduction of landfill in surrounding areas.