Matchmaking for industrial symbiosis: a digital tool for the identification, quantification and optimisation of symbiotic potential in industrial ecosystems

Abstract

Effective waste management is crucial for sustainable industrial operations. This paper introduces a state-of-the-art digital tool designed for the circular economy. Primarily it pinpoints and quantifies symbiotic possibilities between industries with liquid waste streams, emphasising the most lucrative inter-industry connections. In practice, the tool takes in data such as waste stream volumes, material concentrations within these streams, market prices of materials, and industries’ raw material consumption rates. Utilising these, its algorithm identifies and assesses the most profitable material exchanges among the specified industries. This assessment considers the market value of materials and the costs associated with recovering those materials from liquid waste streams. One of the major challenges, the estimation of recovery costs, is addressed using an innovative Sherwood plot analysis. This analysis draws a correlation between a material’s recovery cost and its concentration within a liquid medium. The tool’s output provides a detailed list of potential transactions complemented by illustrative graphs that detail mass flows, profit margins, and environmental advantages for each industry. Collectively, these details offer insights both for individual industries and the industrial ecosystem as a whole. One of the tool’s most significant revelations is its ability to uncover potential “bridges” linking industrial waste streams to resource needs, unearthing previously unnoticed economic and ecological gains. By calculating economic and environmental benefits of “waste” reuse, this tool offers a compelling rationale for the adoption of industrial symbiosis. Ultimately, it uncovers the transformative potential of aligning industrial activities with a balance that fosters both economic growth and ecological responsibility.