Sustainability-based Optimization Criteria for Industrial Symbiosis: The Symbioptima Case

C. Brondi*, S. Cornago, A. Ballarino, A. Avai, D. Pietraroia, U. Dellepiane, M. Niero

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalConference article in JournalResearchpeer-review

19 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals require industrial infrastructures to provide a positive impact on society by reducing waste generation and resource consumption. The enhancement and optimization of symbiotic aspects in industry clusters can support the achievement of such goals. The present paper illustrates a new quantification methodology to foster the implementation of industrial symbiosis within existing industry clusters. A Java tool has been developed to track and optimize material and energy flows within different symbiosis scenarios. The quantitative assessment is focused on identifying environmental, social and cost gains for specific Key Performance Indicators, considering a comprehensive Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) perspective. Furthermore, multi-criteria optimization allows to identify heuristic solutions for symbiosis scenarios. The tool has been implemented with reference to a symbiosis case from the Steel Sector. Preliminary results evidence that industrial symbiosis and industrial sustainability are complementary but different areas. Moreover, concurrent applications of such paradigms introduce a number of new challenges and operational managerial issues to be addressed.

Original languageEnglish
JournalProcedia CIRP
Volume69
Pages (from-to)855-860
Number of pages6
ISSN2212-8271
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018
Externally publishedYes
Event25th CIRP Conference on Life Cycle Engineering, , CIRP LCE 2018 - Copenhagen, Denmark
Duration: 30 Apr 20182 May 2018

Conference

Conference25th CIRP Conference on Life Cycle Engineering, , CIRP LCE 2018
Country/TerritoryDenmark
CityCopenhagen
Period30/04/201802/05/2018

Keywords

  • Industrial Symbiosis
  • LCA
  • LCSA
  • Optimization
  • Sustainable Development Goals

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