EVALUATION OF POTENTIAL APPLICATION OF INDUSTRIAL SYMBIOSIS

Abstract

Most of the industries in Sri Lanka generate a considerable amount of waste which are either open dumped or disposed without due consideration of the environment and ecosystem. The haphazard disposal of the untreated waste is growing in to a major problem in the country due to high cost of treatment for industries, lack of infrastructure for industrial waste management, ineffective enforcement of environmental regulations and insufficient capacity for waste management of local authorities. The country has not a properly established waste treatment facilities for industrial waste. Industrial symbiosis, which is considered mainly by the reuse of waste from one company as raw material by another, has been applied globally with recognized environmental, economic, and social benefits. However, the potential for industrial symbiosis is not exhausted in existing cases, and there is still a wide range of opportunities for its application. This paper has identified necessary key steps required to develop a conceptual framework to implement industrial symbiosis for manufacturing sector. It has identified three main steps i.e identification of industrial symbiosis potential, network development stage, decision support tool.