The Challenges
Upscaling industrial symbiosis in Europe as a systemic approach through standards requires a broad perspective and approach which goes beyond one industry or sector and involves interaction with diversified areas of interest and stakeholders.
The key challenges to define a robust and effective IS standardisation framework result from:
Heterogenity of industries, sectors & value chains
Industrial symbiosis involves industries and sectors with varying technologies, processes, and practices as well as diverse company sizes. Achieving standardisation across such heterogeneity requires reconciling differences, building trust and finding common ground processes while ensuring equitable participation from all stakeholders, including SMEs, in the realm of differing priorities, perspectives and sometimes conflicting interests.
Definition of priority resources & synergies
Developing and implementing standards requires a good understanding where the most impactful opportunities are. Identification of priority resources and key synergies allows to set up an effective standardisation guiding process but requires an in-depth analysis of existing knowledge, evidence provided by IS-related projects, literature and IS practices to identify and map resources and sectors with high IS potential .
Interdisciplinary nature of IS
Industrial symbiosis encompasses multiple areas, including engineering, environmental science, economics, legal regulations and policy. Framing IS standardisation requires compatibility with the needs and considerations of these areas while ensuring coherence with the existing standards and regulatory frameworks.
Dynamic environment
Industrial ecosystems are constantly evolving due to advancements in science technology, market conditions, and regulatory frameworks. Standardisation efforts must be flexible enough to adapt to these dynamic environments, capture and exploit innovation, stimulate R&I to discover untapped synergies, while maintaining relevance and effectiveness over time.
Regulatory & legal complexity
Industrial symbiosis often involves navigating complex regulatory and legal frameworks, including environmental regulations (e.g. pertaining to end-of-waste criteria) and liability issues. Developing standards that are compliant with these regulations while promoting collaboration and innovation is challenging.
Lack of awareness & skills
Many stakeholders may not fully understand the concept of industrial symbiosis or its potential benefits. Building awareness and consensus among stakeholders about the importance of standardisation and its potential impacts is essential.
- RISERS addresses these challenges when framing the IS standardisation process by capitalising on existing standardisation efforts, analysis of existing knowledge provided by European projects and a collaborative stakeholders approach.
The standardisation start point for RISERS
The grounds for standardising IS have been laid down by the CEN Workshop Agreement CWA 17354. The document specifies in particular:
- Core elements of industrial symbiosis enabling its identification;
- Drivers for industrial symbiosis;
- Approaches to industrial symbiosis;
- Industrial symbiosis implementation: good practice.
