Opportunities for the uptake of industrial symbiosis in European regions - Workshop
RETRACE will join this interactive and participatory workshop, including a study visit, to meet other Interreg Europe project partners, discuss project complementarities, share good practices, and brainstorm on future common activities for improving the effectiveness of regional policies and developing Industrial Symbiosis (SI) in European regions.
About industrial symbiosis
The part of industrial ecology known as Industrial Symbiosis engages traditionally separate industries in a collective approach to competitive advantage involving physical exchange of materials, energy, water and by-products. The keys to industrial symbiosis are collaboration and the synergistic possibilities offered by geographic proximity’ (Chertow).
Industrial Symbiosis activity in Europe is very diverse in terms of features, emergence and development patterns or the content of the transactions. Proximity plays an important role in the feasibility of synergies, with most synergies happening in a radius of less than 50km.
Regional actors аrе well-placed to undertake actions for facilitating efforts for engaging in Industrial Symbiosis.
The Workshop focus
A small-scale and highly focused workshop for peers with experience in industrial symbiosis, and an interest in successful approaches and opportunities in industrial symbiosis. The event provides a forum of exchange between regions of smart strategies for developing Industrial Symbiosis in their regions.
The thematic focus of the workshop will be on Industrial Symbiosis exploring the success factors, challenges, practices and approaches which worked. Since the launch of the Interreg Europe programme, more than 40 of the approved projects address the topic of environment and resource efficiency. A number of these projects target waste and resource efficiency and two projects focus entirely on the topic of Industrial Symbiosis.
The second day of the thematic workshop will consist of a study visit to the Envor Group Ltd. to discuss the role of regions in facilitating Industrial Symbiosis.
Themes that are being tackled by the projects range from:
circular economy roadmaps,
responsibility of industry,
recovery of different waste streams (Construction and Demolition Waste, energy, biogas, waste water, etc.),
matchmaking between enterprises,
recycling and recycling infrastructure
The Thematic Workshop will represent an opportunity for discussing and creating synergies through sharing experiences, solutions and practices with regards to stimulation and facilitation of Industrial Symbiosis in the regional context. It will build upon the previous thematic exchange during platform’s events held in Brussels and Seville in 2017 where it was emphasised that regions are instrumental in the transition to circular economy by providing the right policies, incentives and facilitation for the uptake of different Circular Economy Business Models such as the Industrial Symbiosis.
