Web Tool for the Identification of Industrial Symbioses in Industrial Parks

Industrial Symbiosis (IS) is a systemic and collaborative business approach to optimize cycles of material and energy by connecting the supply and demand of various industries. IS provides approaches for advanced circular/cascading systems, in which the energy and material flows are prolonged for multiple utilization within industrial systems in order to increase resource productivity and efficiency. This study aims to present the conceptual IT-supported IS tool and its corresponding prototype, developed for the identification of IS opportunities in IPs. This IS tool serves as an IS facilitating platform, providing transparency among market players and proposing potential cooperation partners according to selectable criteria (e.g. geographical radius, material properties, material quality, purchase quantity, delivery period). So this IS tool builds the technology-enabled environment for the processes of first screening of IS possibilities and initiation for further complex business-driven negotiations and agreements for long-term IS business relationships. The central core of the web application is the analysis and modelling of material and energy flows, which refer to the entire industrial park as well as to individual companies. Methods of Material Flow Analysis (MFA) and Material Flow Cost Accounting (MFCA) are used to identify possible input–output- and supply–demand matchings. The second central core of the web application is the identification of existing and potential cooperation partners for the development of IS networks. In order to achieve this, a combinatorial approach of Social Network Analysis (SNA) and a deposited geographical map are inserted, so that same suppliers and recycling/disposal companies can be detected.