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Box 32 Tools for Capturing Regional Synergies
Glen Corder
Industrial ecology aims to achieve symbiosis, or mutually beneficial co-existence, between
industrial production and consumption. In essence, it supports the concept that an industrial
system is working with the surrounding systems and not in isolation from them. The concept
of industrial ecology leads to regional synergies (also referred to as ‘industrial symbiosis’)
where industry can mimic nature by re-using by-products from one industry in another.
These can extend into utility synergies (the shared use of utility infrastructure), for example
for energy production, water and wastewater treatment.
In 2004, the Co-operative Research Centre for Sustainable Resource Processing (CSRP) com
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menced projects on regional synergies with a focus on analysis and innovation across industrial
regions.
1
To complement practical facilitation projects in the Kwinana (Western Australia) and
Gladstone (Queensland) regions in Australia, the CSRP also initiated a higher-level engineer
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ing and technology project with the specific aim of developing an engineering and technology
platform for regional resource synergies.
Although the number of examples of regional resource synergies around the world is growing,
many of these have largely been opportunistic, rather than through deliberate design. The
hypothesis of the project is that deliberate design of regional synergies is, in principle, possible
– provided practical tools are developed and trialled for the systematic identification, evaluation
and realization of synergy opportunities. Continuing to rely on opportunistic synergy devel
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opment may mean many potential synergy initiatives are missed. The ‘higher-level engineering
and technology’ project delivered a package of tools to provide a rigorous and systemic ap-
proach to identifying and ranking synergy opportunities and associated technologies for new
and existing industries within an industrial area. The project adopted a three-pronged project
strategy: best practice review and promotion, development and trial of a regional eco-efficiency
assessment methodology, and assessment of technology needs and opportunities.
For ‘best practice review and promotion’, the CSRP produced a status report on the de
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velopment of regional synergies from around the world.
2
The Global Synergies Database is
an effective means of promoting existing regional synergy examples and encouraging other
industrial regions to develop similar synergy initiatives.
The ‘regional eco-efficiency assessment methodology’ provides a targeted process for identify
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ing and evaluating opportunities by using a three-phase process:
1 A ‘preliminary assessment tool’ provides an extensive list of indicative synergy
opportunities based on the pre-loaded input–output streams for specific industries.
2 An ‘input–output inventory tool’ generates registers of more specific synergy
opportunities, based on the preliminary assessment tool outcomes and specific company
data, in three main groups: water, energy and materials/by-products. A search engine
enables the user to generate specific reports on potential synergy opportunities.
3 A ‘screening tool’ assesses the potential contribution to sustainable development
for the identified synergy opportunities, in terms of their contribution to sustainable
development as well as their expected feasibility and ease of implementation.
The ‘assessment of technology needs and opportunities’
provides an analytical framework to
assess the role of technology in the realization of regional resource synergies across three
components: capture, recovery and utilization. The framework evaluates the synergy needs
in regard to the three components through three specific categories: water, energy/heat
and materials. The overall aim of this package of tools is to provide a rigorous and systemic
approach to identifying and ranking synergy opportunities and associated technologies for
industries within an industrial area.
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Positive Development
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