Industrial Symbiosis and Circular Urban Practices

Ginevra Balletto

;Martina Sinatra

;Francesca Sinatra;Giuseppe Borruso

2024-01-01

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Abstract

In the period 2014–21, world consumption of resources increased by about 13%, higher than population growth which was instead of 8% and slightly less than the annual growth of world GDP of 2.2%. This complex global condition confirms the need to continue promoting the transition to a circular economy, on multiple scales, to reduce the environmental impact through a system in which resources are used efficiently and sustainably, as an alternative to the current model of linear economy. The circular economy, which is based on the concept of the “3Rs - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”, is expressed thanks to the industrial symbiosis (IS), i.e. the collaboration and sharing of data and resources between different industries or companies within a given territory or the same geographical area. In particular, the IS aims to create collaborative relationships between companies and territories in order to share resources, reduce waste and improve production efficiency. In other words, the IS is functional for the circular economy, and consequently the circular city, by virtue of the progressive international metropolisation. In particular, IS manifests itself with industry 4.0 through the positive integration of digital innovation between businesses, communities and territories and the multi-dimensionality of IS - provincial/metropolitan city, regional and/or national/international - confers a strategic role to face the challenges of sustainable development. In this synthetic framework, the aim of the present paper is to represent a set of circularity indicators through spatial autocorrelation in order to evaluate the IS maturity level in province/metropolitan cities and to promote circular transition.