The influence of policy on industrial symbiosis from the Firm's perspective: A framework

Abstract

Industrial symbiosis (IS) uses a metaphor drawn from the natural ecosystem that ‘nothing is being wasted in nature’ to suggest that one factory can use another factory's waste as its feedstock. Through qualitative research and thematic analysis, this study has identified three themes for fostering IS: IS fostering models, IS implementation stages, and policy instruments. A framework for studying the influence of policy on IS implementation from the firm's perspective is proposed, using four IS fostering models, five IS implementation stages, and ten policy instruments. We demonstrate that studying IS through these combined lenses brings many new detailed insights. Following this, the use of the framework to conduct comparative case studies to consider which policy instrument worked well under which conditions was demonstrated using the case of the Speed-dating/exogenous IS model between the UK and China. Accordingly, this framework is expected to contribute to efficient policy support, which will increase the proliferation of IS practice and the potential of IS practicality.