Industrial symbiosis (IS) has been recognized as an important approach to succeed in the transition towards increased circularity in industry and society. IS involves collaboration between different actors sharing resources, aiming to minimize waste, improve resource and/or energy efficiency, resulting in reduced emissions and environmental impact. This study conducts an embedded single case study at an IS network in Sotenäs, Sweden, where both private and public actors collaborate by exchanging resources. The study identifies benefits and adverse effects of the IS network and explores how these are considered in the actors’ decision-making regarding participation. The results indicate that different actors perceive different types and degrees of benefits and adverse effects. To add further value, this study develops an analytical framework for mapping benefits and adverse effects in the form of an impact assessment matrix. The framework maps at what level in society effects accrue and at what point in time they are expected to occur. The results of this study can help understand the role of specific benefits and adverse effects in actors’ decision-making, and show the distribution of effects across societal levels. This knowledge can help understand the complexity of IS networks and thereby facilitate the implementation of IS. 

Industrial symbiosis can move us closer to a circular economy and enable efficient and sustainable use of resources. Its potential has however been far from realized, and to increase our understanding of why that is, we investigate drivers, barriers, and outcomes associated with both broadly defined environmental sustainability initiatives and industrial symbiosis from an organizational context perspective. A mixed-methods approach is used, combining statistical analysis of survey material with an embedded case study at an industrial symbiosis network in Sotenäs, Sweden. The position of the customer order decoupling point (CODP), a critical aspect of supply chains that separates forecast-based operations from those tied to specific orders, enables comparisons between organizations with primarily forecast-driven operations from those with primarily order-driven operations. We find that the CODP plays an important role in organizations' commitments to sustainability initiatives in general, as organizations with different CODP positions experience different levels of benefits from such initiatives. We did not find that the CODP position had the same impact for industrial symbiosis initiatives. Our results indicate that both industrial symbiosis, a very specific type of sustainability initiative and collaboration, and environmental sustainability initiatives in a broad sense, are associated with multiple, positive business outcomes. However, case study participants also described that their industrial symbiosis participation was time consuming and associated with an added administrative burden. This could be a reason why such collaborations are not more prevalent, despite the potential of bringing about several positive business outcomes. Finally, our findings indicate that industrial symbiosis may bring business-related benefits to firms regardless of their CODP position, but then in order to understand why such networks are not more prevalent, we recommend that future research investigates ways of quantifying and distributing burdens and rewards associated with industrial symbiosis collaboration. © 2023 The Authors

Factors that affect and influence industrial symbiosis (IS) collaborations have been researched extensively in the literature, where they are mostly reported at a network level or for IS in general, and lack the individual actor’s perspective. This review article contributes to and expands knowledge of influencing factors and their effect on the individual actor. In a systematic review, guided by the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, this study reviews 53 scientific papers examining planned or existing IS networks. It examines literature from 1 January 2000 to 28 March 2022, and it identifies drivers, barriers, and enablers influencing actors to participate in IS. It explores whether and how the perception and impact of these factors differs depending on the characteristics of individual actors and their specific context. The main findings of this study reveal that an actor’s specific characteristics and the network’s context have a significant impact on decision making and how actors both perceive and are affected by factors influencing collaboration. Furthermore, an additional novel contribution to this field of research is that the study identifies three underlying and recurring considerations that actors appear to find critical, namely, perceived business opportunities/risks, regulatory and political setting, and potential inequalities in the network. The results show that an actor’s take on these critical considerations determines whether the actor is willing to engage in IS.