Towards a Sustainable Bioeconomy through Industrial Symbiosis: Current Situation and Perspectives

Nicolas Bijon,Magali Dechesne,Tom Wassenaar,Guillaume Junqua

doi:10.3390/su14031605

Abstract

The concepts of industrial symbiosis (IS) and bioeconomy (BE) both focus on ways to reduce dependence on non-renewable resources. However, these two frames of reference have rarely been considered as part of a joint strategy to achieve sustainability. Here, we describe how they inter-operate, in well documented IS case studies, to identify current synergy patterns of organic by-products, their limits, and promising pathways towards integrated initiatives that pursue the respective goals of each framework. We first evaluated the nature of synergies in current practices, and how they contribute to sustainability. Second, we focused on the role of agriculture in these symbioses, due to its fundamental role in circular bioeconomy. We used three main dimensions to analyze our case studies: IS emergence, governance of synergies, and actor serendipity. We identified three main patterns of organic matter use within IS, which we termed metabolic resources, metabolic biorefinery, and global biorefinery. Our observations suggest that synergies with agriculture are undervalued, by both internal and external practitioners. We conclude that while the combination of BE and IS can bolster sustainability, it requires a dedicated implementation strategy that has yet to be conceived.

Highlights

As public policies increasingly support the transition towards sustainability [1,2,3], it is crucial to examine the actual contribution of collective action paradigms, and the ways in which they can reinforce one another
The notable variation among industrial symbioses indicates that our selection methodology successfully provided a diverse sample of case studies
Our analysis of 30 case studies shows that industrial symbioses (ISs) already contribute, to some extent, to the bioeconomy (BE)

Summary

Introduction

As public policies increasingly support the transition towards sustainability [1,2,3], it is crucial to examine the actual contribution of collective action paradigms, and the ways in which they can reinforce one another. Circular bioeconomy has emerged as a combined approach to BE and CE [11,12], but is more than a mere combination. These apparently distinct frameworks share the potential to implement and develop local collective actions [13,14,15,16], such as those exemplified by industrial symbiosis (IS) initiatives [17,18,19].

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Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion