The Process of Building Inter-organizational Collaboration for Industrial Symbiosis : Two cases from Finland: ECO3 & Envitech

Abstract

The present situation of environmental degradation and natural resource depletion encouraged researchers to find new ways of integrating sustainability in industrial activities. The concept of industrial symbiosis (IS) has the potential to fight these challenges by creating linkages among co-located industrial actors. In this system, the waste of one actor is considered a resource for another, and share common utilities for operations. The concept has been practically implemented in many countries to introduce resource-efficient operations. Therefore, this research aims to identify the collaboration process development toward the IS system while mapping the ecosystem actors and diverse driving or inhibiting factors. To seek answers for the research questions, a qualitative multiple case study analysis on two nationally significant IS cases from Finland was conducted. The primary data sources for both of the case studies were direct interviews with the specified ecosystem actors. The interview data were transcribed, systematically grouped, and analyzed by following the research theme. The secondary data were multi-sourced from company webpages, thesis, reports, book chapter, and authenticity of some secondary data were double-checked during the inter-views. Data-driven thematic analysis was implemented to group the researched data on each case, with the identification of critical incidents during the IS evolution phases, followed by an ecosystem actor mapping through Kumu software and outlining the factors impacting the IS system. Lastly, a case comparison by defining dimensions under the researched themes was performed to define the distinctive pattern of both cases. The key findings indicate that organization of the IS system can be categorized as a “publicly driven” or “company driven” model. Nevertheless, both models encompass the emergence, probation, and development & expansion phases of the IS evolution process with diverse activities organized by the ecosystem actors. A publicly driven IS model is mainly inaugurated by the local governments and the process advances as a planned symbiosis model. The company driven IS model mainly progresses through the spontaneous participation of local company actors based on their own need. The publicly driven IS model functions through a central operator while the individual company actors are the key decision taker of the company driven model without any centralized approach. The organization of activities in both cases is impacted by a similar set of driving or inhibiting factors like legislation, location, changes in people’s attitudes, and the main driving element is a human actor. This study contributes to the existing knowledge of IS process development by looking into critical cases from processual dimensions. The investigator suggests that the successful evolution of an IS system will require active collaboration and co-operation from public organizations and private company actors. A co-operative mindset among all the stakeholders can be established by developing a shared vision and will require a platform company to centrally organize the IS system development. The company actors need to be more open, while a change in attitude and new legislation is highly required to encourage bio and circular economy businesses through IS.