Industrial Symbiosis Dynamics and the Problem of Equivalence: Proposal for a Comparative Framework

• Published in: Journal of industrial ecology Vol. 21; no. 4; pp. 938 - 952
• Main Authors: Boons, Frank, Chertow, Marian, Park, Jooyoung, Spekkink, Wouter, Shi, Han
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New Haven Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.08.2017
• Subjects: business strategy; Comparative analysis; Comparative studies; Ecology; Equivalence; Founding; Industrial ecology; industrial park; industrial symbiosis (IS); social science; Symbiosis; Terminology; Typology; Variants
• ISSN: 1088-1980; 1530-9290
• DOI: 10.1111/jiec.12468

Summary Industrial symbiosis (IS), one of the founding notions within the field of industrial ecology, has diffused throughout significant parts of the world as a practice that can reduce the ecological impact of the industrial processes of groups of firms. In this article, we propose a fresh look at this research topic, building on the considerable advances that have been made in the last 15 years in understanding how IS comes about. We propose a conceptual and theoretical framework for taking on the challenge of comparative analysis at a global level. This requires developing an approach to address a solution to the problem of equivalence: the difficulty of comparing instances of IS across different institutional contexts. The proposed framework emphasizes IS as a process and attempts to address the obstacles to comparative study by (1) identifying terminology to examine IS variants, (2) providing a typology of IS dynamics, and (3) formulating key research questions to illuminate a way forward. In developing our argument, we build on the collective experiences of collaborative research efforts in North America, Europe, and Asia as evidenced in recent overviews of the literature.