Modeling and Evaluation of the Possibilities of Forming a Regional Industrial Symbiosis Networks

Abstract

Industrial symbiosis (IS) is a term used to describe a network of diverse organizations that make use of different byproducts to improve their ability to achieve common goals, improve environmental conditions, and/or improve business and technical processes. In this paper, we propose a model for evaluation of the possibilities of the establishment of such IS on a regional level. This paper studied a benchmark of seven IS examples, which are used to build a qualitative multi-criteria decision model for evaluation of the development of IS network model. Through these examples, where two are the best known IS cases in the world, we demonstrate the importance of social actors’ involvement in IS in their industrial or non-industrial technological processes.