A symbiosis-based life cycle management approach for sustainable resource flows of industrial ecosystem

Abstract

It is fundamental to sustainable industrial development that resource flows keep continuous trait from nature to industrial ecosystem and back to natural cycles within environmental carrying capacity. Traditional separated management method leads to unsustainable resource flows due to the linear flows, which are the root cause for severe environmental problems and resources shortage. Shifting the intermittent or linear trait of the resource flows to more continuous and circular flows is a tremendous challenge in the industrial ecosystem for the sustainable management of resources. Existing research mainly focuses on improving the efficiency of resource use or reducing waste, but there is a lack of systematic management research on resource flows from the perspective of the industrial ecosystem. Thus, we explore a life cycle management (LCM) approach based on life cycle thinking and the industrial symbiosis mechanism. By clarifying the life cycle system of resource flows and the symbiosis pattern, we propose the framework of LCM for cyclic resource flows. Based on the framework, the symbiosis-based life cycle model of resource flows is established and the integrated assessment method that supports the life cycle targeted management from environmental impact and sustainable use perspectives is developed. The case study demonstrates the ability of the approach to help decision makers identify the key issues and generate the targeted integrated strategies for facilitating the sustainable resource flows in the industrial ecosystem.