Using an online platform for the improvement of industrial symbiosis and circular economy (in Western Macedonia, Greece)

Abstract

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 (Dounavis et al. 2015, Dounavis et al. 2016, Ravindran and Jaiswal 2016, Kourmentza et al. 2018, Keskisaari and Kärki 2018, Ayadi et al. 2018). The keys to industrial symbiosis are collaboration and the synergistic possibilities offered by geographic proximity. Industrial symbiosis includes initiatives in which two or more industrial entities develop both beneficial relationships and the circular economy (Chowdhury et al. 2018). Since, the symbiosis encourages the sustainable development and promotes the economy growth (de Jesus et al. 2018). This paper presents an online industrial symbiosis and circular economy platform created by a LIFE project (still ongoing) which aims to demonstrate the usefulness of a digital on-line platform at European level for the cataloguing, use and exploitation of industrial waste produced in a local area in order to improve the overall performance of industrial processes and circular economy in a local level. All this will happen both through the increased use of waste within the area itself and by the less dependence on the disposal of waste to be disposed of, taking into account the reduction of used raw materials and the reduction of waste itself. The platform will be created through the European LIFE M3P Project (Material Match Making Platform for the promotion of the use of industrial waste in local networks) which is still on-going and ends at the end of September 2019.