DEGREE PROJECT REAL ESTATE AND CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MANAGEMENT MASTER OF SCIENCE, 30 CREDITS, SECOND LEVEL STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN 2020

Implementation of Industrial Symbiosis

- How can a collaborative network improve waste management?

Zaid Al-karkhi & Josef Fadhel

ROYAL TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF REAL ESTATE AND CONSTRACTION MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT OF REAL ESTATE AND CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT

Master of Science thesis

Title : Implementation of Industrial Symbiosis – How can a collaborative network improve waste management? Author(s): Zaid Al-karkhi & Josef Fadhel Department: Real Estate and Construction Management Master Thesis number TRITA-ABE-MBT-20528 Supervisor: Tina Karrbom Gustavsson Keywords: sustainability, circular economy, construction waste management, industrial symbiosis, collaborative network

Abstract

Global use of natural resources has accelerated during the past decade and emissions and waste have increased as a consequence. The construction sector is a major contributor to global carbon emissions and is responsible for as much as one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. The negative impact that industries across the world are having on the environment is getting recognized as a serious problem and the environmental awareness is growing. A significant amount of this impact could be reduced with increased resource efficiency. Our economic system needs to undergo an unprecedented transformation, to stop environmental degradation but also to assure sustainable access to natural resources in the future. To tackle this issue, institutions are pressuring to move away from our current linear economy with its “take-make-dispose” characteristics and move towards a circular economy that is waste-free by design. The concept of Industrial Symbiosis is seen as a means to do that. In these industrial networks that resemble biological symbioses, waste or by-products of one company become a resource for another. By engaging traditionally separate industries in a collective approach involving physical exchange of materials, energy and by-products, it is possible to divert waste from landfill and reduce the negative impact on the environment. From a company perspective, Industrial Symbiosis can reduce the need for raw materials as well as waste disposal costs while allowing companies to create new revenue from residue and by products.

The aim of this report was to investigate the perspectives that stakeholders have on a potential participation in an Industrial Symbiosis network and the complex interplay of drivers, facilitators and barriers to the implementation, as well as how the responsibilities among the stakeholders could be divided in order to implement this concept in the most effective way. This was done by interviewing key stakeholders within the construction industry to get an overall perspective on their views.

The results indicated a generally positive outlook on the concept of Industrial Symbiosis among the stakeholders. Key drivers and barriers were identified as economic – companies are only willing to invest if it is profitable, regulatory – regulations are an important enabling factor as they create the right incentives for companies to participate, organizational – A transformation of the business model is necessary in order to implement circular economy and technological – Technological developments and innovations will aid the implementation as it can increase efficiency and transparency among the network participants. A tentative model has been generated where the responsibility distribution among the stakeholders have been mapped in order to give a greater understanding of the dynamics of a potential network.

Acknowledgement

This study is a master thesis that was carried out in the spring of 2020 at the Royal Institute of Technology within the department of Real Estate and Construction Management. The thesis comprises 30 higher education credits and is the final stage of master’s degree in the Master of Science program.

The client for this degree project is Skanska and we would like to take the opportunity to extend a big thank to Skanska through our supervisor Ina Djurestål for the support and guidance that made the study possible. We would also like to show gratitude towards our supervisors from KTH Andreas Ekeskär and Tina Karrbom Gustavsson who answered our questions, always took the time to talk us through any of the troubles that would arise during the thesis. All of their contributions have challenged and helped us to define and formulate a clearer question and purpose, which in turn has generated more relevant and reality-based results.

Additionally, we would like to show appreciation to everyone who took their time to meet us, whether it be face-to-face or through Skype during the time of the ongoing pandemic. Without this contribution and results that were obtained there would not have been any empiricism to present. It is with the information that you contributed with that we were able to put the theoretical framework into practice

Sincerely, Zaid Al-karkhi & Josef Fadhel Stockholm, 2020-05-20 Examensarbete

Titel : Implementering av Industriell Symbios – Hur kan ett kollaborativt nätverk förbättra avfallshanteringen? Författare: Zaid Al-karkhi & Josef Fadhel Institution: Fastigheter och byggande Examensarbete Master nivå: TRITA-ABE-MBT-20528 Handledare: Tina Karrbom Gustavsson Nyckelord: hållbarhet, cirkulär ekonomi, avfallshantering, industriell symbios, kollaborativt nätverk

Sammanfattning

Den globala användningen av naturresurser har ökat under det senaste decenniet och utsläpp och avfall har vuxit som en följd. Byggsektorn är en stor bidragande faktor till globala koldioxidutsläpp och ansvarar för så mycket som en tredjedel av de globala utsläppen av växthusgaser. Den negativa påverkan som industrier över hela världen har på miljön erkänns som ett allvarligt problem samtidigt som miljömedvetenheten växer. En betydande mängd av denna påverkan kan minskas med ökad resurseffektivitet. Vårt ekonomiska system måste genomgå en enastående omvandling, för att stoppa miljöförstöring men också för att säkerställa hållbar tillgång till naturresurser i framtiden. För att ta itu med denna fråga pressar institutionerna att flytta sig bort från vår nuvarande linjära ekonomi och gå mot en cirkulär ekonomi som är avfallsfri genom design. Begreppet Industriell Symbios ses som ett sätt att göra det. I dessa industriella nätverk som liknar biologiska symboler blir avfall eller biprodukter från ett företag en resurs för ett annat. Genom att engagera traditionellt separata industrier i en kollektiv strategi som involverar fysiskt utbyte av material, energi och biprodukter, är det möjligt att avleda avfall från deponering och minska den negativa miljöpåverkan. Ur ett företagsperspektiv kan Industriell Symbios minska behovet av råmaterial samt avfallskostnader samtidigt som företag kan skapa nya intäkter från rester och av produkter.

Syftet var att undersöka de synpunkter som intressenter har på ett potentiellt deltagande i ett Industriellt Symbios-nätverk och det komplexa samspelet mellan aktörer för genomförandet, samt hur ansvaret mellan aktörerna ska delas upp för att implementera detta koncept på det mest effektiva sättet. Detta gjordes genom att intervjua viktiga aktörer inom byggbranschen för att få ett övergripande perspektiv på deras åsikter.

Resultaten indikerade en generellt positiv syn på konceptet industriell symbios bland intressenterna. Viktiga drivkrafter och hinder identifierades som ekonomiska - företag är bara villiga att investera om det är lönsamt, regelverk - förordningar är en viktig möjliggörande faktor eftersom de skapar rätt incitament för företag att delta, organisatoriska - En omvandling av affärsmodellen är nödvändig i för att genomföra cirkulär ekonomi och teknik - Teknologisk utveckling och innovationer hjälper implementeringen eftersom det kan öka effektiviteten och öppenheten bland nätverksdeltagarna. En modell har genererats där ansvarsfördelningen bland intressenterna har kartlagts för att ge en större förståelse för dynamiken i ett potentiellt nätverk.

Förord

Denna studie är ett examensarbete som genomfördes våren 2020 vid Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan inom institutionen för Fastigheter och Byggande. Examensarbetet omfattar 30 högskolepoäng och är den sista etappen av masterexamen i Civilingenjörsprogrammet inom Samhällsbyggnad.

Detta examensarbete utgjordes i samarbete med Skanska och vi vill ta chansen att tacka Skanska ett stort tack genom vår handledare Ina Djurestål för det stöd och vägledning som gjorde studien möjlig. Vi vill också tacka våra handledare från KTH Andreas Ekeskär och Tina Karrbom Gustavsson som svarade på våra frågor, alltid tog sig tid att läsa igenom och gav feedback om de tankar vi hade under studiens gång. Alla deras bidrag har utmanat och hjälpt oss att definiera och formulera en tydligare fråga och syfte, som i sin tur har gett mer relevanta och verklighetsbaserade resultat.

Dessutom vill vi tacka alla som tog sig tid att träffa oss, vare sig det var på kontor eller genom Skype under tiden för den pågående pandemin. Utan detta bidrag och resultat som erhölls hade det funnits något resultat att presentera. Det är med den information som ni bidrog med som vi kunde implementera den teoretiska ramverken i praktiken.

Vänliga hälsningar, Zaid Al-karkhi & Josef Fadhel Stockholm, 2020-05-20

Innehållsförteckning

1 INTRODUCTION ...... 1 1.1 BACKGROUND ...... 1 1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT ...... 2 1.3 PURPOSE AND QUESTIONS ...... 3 1.4 LIMITATIONS ...... 4 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ...... 5 2.1 CIRCULAR ECONOMY ...... 5 2.2 WASTE MANAGEMENT ...... 6 2.2.1 Mineral Wool Waste ...... 8 2.3 INDUSTRIAL SYMBIOSIS ...... 8 2.4 INDUSTRIAL SYMBIOSIS IN SWEDEN ...... 10 3 THEORY ...... 12 3.1 CIRCULAR ECONOMY ...... 12 3.2 SUPPLY CHAIN ...... 13 3.2.1 Supply Chain Management ...... 14 3.3 INDUSTRIAL SYMBIOSIS ...... 15 3.3.1 Definition ...... 15 3.3.2 Theoretical Background ...... 16 3.3.3 Mechanisms ...... 17 3.3.4 Industrial Symbiosis within Supply Chain ...... 19 3.3.5 Types of Industrial Symbiosis ...... 21 4 METHOD ...... 24 4.1 RESEARCH DESIGN ...... 24 4.2 SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS ...... 25 4.2.1 Collection of Data ...... 25 4.2.2 Ethics ...... 27 4.3 RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY ...... 27 5 EMPIRICS ...... 29 5.1 WASTE MANAGEMENT ...... 29 5.2 INDUSTRIAL SYMBIOSIS ...... 31 5.2.1 Driving Forces ...... 31 5.2.2 Challenges ...... 33 5.2.3 Requirements and Regulations ...... 35 5.2.4 Planning in early phase ...... 37 5.2.5 Logistics and transport ...... 39 6 ANALYSIS ...... 41 6.1 MAIN MOTIVATIONS FOR ENGAGING IN INDUSTRIAL SYMBIOSIS NETWORKING ...... 41 6.1.1 Institutional Pressure ...... 41 6.1.2 Networking and increasing knowledge between companies ...... 43 6.1.3 Logistics and transport ...... 44 6.2 BARRIERS TO INDUSTRIAL SYMBIOSIS NETWORKING ...... 46 6.2.1 Profit/Short-term vs. long-term ...... 46 6.2.2 The role of the coordinator ...... 47 6.2.3 Uncertainty/Digital facilitation ...... 48 6.3 TENTATIVE MODEL ...... 49 7 CONCLUSION ...... 55 7.1 RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY ...... 57 7.2 LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE STUDIES ...... 58

REFERENCES ...... 59 APPENDIX ...... 66 APPENDIX A – INTERVIEWEE RECYCLING COMPANY ...... 66 APPENDIX B – INTERVIEWEE MUNICIPALITY ...... 67 APPENDIX C - INTERVIEWEE WASTE MANAGEMENT CONTRACTOR ...... 68 APPENDIX D – INTERVIEWEE CONTRACTOR ...... 69 APPENDIX E – INTERVIEWEE SUPPLIER ...... 70

1 Introduction

This chapter will give you a background and a problem formulation which will sum up in an explanation of the gap that this thesis is trying to fill as well as the limitations of the study

1.1 Background

As a result of the increasing global population and gross domestic production, material and energy consumption are increasing, and this trend is expected to continue (Virtanen et al., 2019). The environmental challenges we face today are more palpable than ever before and the consequential impact is not sustainable. It has been established that economic and production systems cannot be separated from the environment, with contemporary ecological economic theory emphasizing the increasing impact of human activities on nature (Nasir et al., 2016). The construction sector is a major contributor to global carbon emissions and is responsible for as much as one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions (Nubholz et al.,2019). One of the reasons for this development is due to lack of resource efficiency and can be linked to the production and consumption processes; “produce, use, throw” or “take, make, dispose”. Preston (2012, p.3) describes this model quite vividly:

"In today’s economy, natural resources are mined and extracted, turned into products and finally discarded"

By moving towards a circular economy, it is possible to reduce carbon dioxide emissions without compromising economic development (Neves et al., 2019). The concept of circular economy aims at keeping products, materials and component at their highest utility throughout the value chain, but at the same time being restorative and regenerative by design (Jones, 2018). It refers to a system that creates as little economic loss as possible, and where the majority of the products and resources used in production processes can be reused and recycled (Johnsen et al.,2015). The concept of circular economy gives the means to develop strategies and ideas that lead to sustainable industrial progress and improve harmony between environment, economy and society (Kirchherr, Reike, & Hekkert, 2017).

As a way of reducing negative environmental impact, regulations regarding construction waste are becoming stricter (Jones, 2018). The concept of circular economy is increasingly seen as a major policy agenda and a testing challenge for the construction industry. The

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European Commission (2018) argued that the built environment is an important focus in working towards circular economy and the European Environment Agency (2016a) identified construction and demolition as one of five priority areas in the transition to a circular economy (Jones, 2018). Furthermore, recently as of December 2019, Stockholm city’s real estate companies have collectively developed common requirements for waste that arise from construction and demolition projects (Stockholms Stad, 2019). The requirements are based on the Swedish Public Procurement Authority’s basic level of waste quantities and real estate sector’s guidelines, as a tool for meeting the requirements of the Environmental Code's general consideration rules, the EU's waste hierarchy and helping to achieve Sweden's environmental goals (ibid).

In terms of improving business performance, companies generally are good at identifying potentials located at the interorganizational interfaces, for instance by building strategic partnerships and creating alliances around core competencies. The concept of industrial ecology aims to explore potentials of further improvements of company’s environmental performance by developing industrial ecosystems that exhibit cyclical resource-use pattern analogues to those observed in mature biological systems (Starlander, 2003).

Industrial Symbiosis, which is a subfield of industrial ecology is increasingly being seen as a means for implementing circular economy and as a strategic tool for economic development, green growth, innovation and resource efficiency (Johnsen et al., 2016). Industrial Symbiosis is often defined as a collective approach in which one company’s waste is used as raw material by another company. By adopting the concept of Industrial Symbiosis and creating collaboration networks between companies’ it is possible to create closed loops of material flows - leading to less waste and more economical gains (Yeo et al. 2019).

1.2 Problem Statement

The challenges of sustainable construction, industrial growth and importance of resource efficiency are clearly recognized by the European commission and are now at the forefront of strategy and sustainability policy (Jones, 2018). The construction industry generates about 35% of waste to landfill (Burman et al., 2018). Moreover, most of the waste that does not go to landfill goes to recovery instead of being recycled, whereas material recycling is deemed to be a more sustainable approach (European Commission, 2018). There is an increased urgency

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to move more towards circular business models that aim to utilize embedded economic and environmental value in products and materials for as long as possible and increase the level of material recycling.

One main causes of hesitations for companies to invest in green solutions is the uncertainty regarding the economic returns (Volz et al., 2015). In a paper written by Mckinsey & Company it has been shown that short-termism has increased among companies in the search for faster economic returns (Mckinsey & Company, 2017). Public companies specifically, often face pressures to generate high return of investment and dividends for their shareholders. This short-term thinking may hinder companies from investing in long term sustainability projects that would bring environmental benefits as the return of investment is perceived to be too far away in time. Hence, it becomes more imperative for companies to adapt and evolve by creating a paradigm shift in this regard and start working more long term, as this would bring economic development while also protecting the environment. Much research has been conducted regarding circular business models generally but also Industrial Symbiosis particularly. However, after an extensive literature review, there is no existing research examining the potential for Industrial Symbiosis specifically within the construction industry in Sweden, and that is what this paper aim to provide.

1.3 Purpose and questions

The main objective of this thesis is to make a contribution to the fields of Industrial Ecology and construction waste management in terms of facilitating the development of Industrial Symbiosis networks within the construction industry in Sweden. This is achieved by exploring the different barriers and challenges that each stakeholder in the industry perceive and examine what different responsibilities respective stakeholders has for the facilitation. This would provide insight about the perceptions of the potential participants and may contribute to providing a better understanding of the specific requirements of Industrial Symbiosis development within the context of the Swedish Construction Industry. By using the supply chain of the material mineral wool, it is possible to investigate the implications an Industrial Symbiosis network would have on the different stakeholders involved.

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The main research questions for this thesis are the following:

- What are the main success factors for the implementation of Industrial Symbiosis networks within the Swedish construction industry? - What are the main barriers? - What responsibilities do each stakeholder have for an implementation?

1.4 Limitations

The research has been limited to include the perspective of the construction industry in the development of an Industrial Symbiosis network. Since the Industrial Symbiosis is a cross- sectoral network facilitation system, the opinion of other sectors would be valuable; however, the authors are interested in exploring the main barriers and challenges that the actors within the construction sector consider and what their views are on an Industrial Symbiosis network is. Since Industrial Symbiosis can include a diverse amount of materials, it is important that the study focuses on the supply chain of one material which is the mineral wool. Every material supply chain varies and the incentives towards collaboration is different depending on what material is being investigated.

This thesis is conducted in collaboration with a construction contractor, which is the source of the interviewees that have been chosen from the contractor’s perspective. This is a limitation that would otherwise generate more information from other contractors that could add value to the thesis. However, since it is one material supply chain that is being investigated, it is also important that one contractor is being chosen to interview. The geographical area that has been chosen is Stockholm, Sweden where all the interviewees are positioned. The output that is generated is from the construction projects that are located in Stockholm.

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2 Literature Review

The literature review will show the most relevant previous research and studies that have dealt with the same topics that this study is keen on exploring

In order to define the research questions, an empirical literature review has been chosen where previous research papers that deal with Industrial Symbiosis are analyzed and studied in order to gain a broader understanding. The underlying problem being explored is linked to construction waste management and how an implementation of Industrial Symbiosis, a collective approach compatible with circular economy, can improve the way contractors deal with waste. There have been extensive research papers that discuss the success factors and barriers that Industrial Symbiosis provides for a wide range of industries. However, there is a gap in the research conducted in a Swedish context with the perspective of the construction industry – something that this thesis aspires to contribute with. What this section aims to shed a light on is the various research that has been made and discuss them.

2.1 Circular Economy

Circular economy, according to Korhonen, Honkasalo & Seppälä (2016), is a compilation of ambiguous and separate concepts from different fields. The paper distinguishes the definition of circular economy from The European Commission which is based on the 4R framework; reduce, reuse, recycle and recover of materials and energy. Through a qualitative text analysis, Korhonen et al. (2016) continues to analyze the limitations of circular economy in which the management of the circular economy-type interorganizational and inter-sectorial material and energy flows is one of the main concerns. This finding is further supported by the work of Witjes & Lozano (2016) who investigate a potential framework for sustainable business models. The research paper initially addresses the relationship between the client and contractor in the public procurement process. Managerial implications mentioned in the research is the lack of collaboration between producers and suppliers which can be illustrated in the current lack of sustainable development business models. The development of circular economic business models that add value through sustainability in terms of both environmental and economic benefits, can according to the findings of Lozano et al. (2016) be achieved through a collaboration between producers and suppliers since it leads to reduction in raw material utilization and waste creation. There is a heavy emphasize on cooperation

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since the circular economy establishes a flow between processes where the waste from one process can be used as a surplus for another process.

Additionally, Virtanen et al. (2019) conducted a research that tackles the tools to actually promote circular economy by analyzing the regional material flow in the manufacturing industry. The case study was performed in Finland, with a project that has a strategic plan to work towards circular economy. The main aim was to develop an input-output study of material flows of various products; however, the data was insufficient which meant that the focus was instead concentrated to waste flows. Different indicators were extracted to effectively capture the circulation of waste materials. The results indicate that waste woods and plastics need to be heavily promoted in terms of recycling to reach the EU recycling requirements (Virtanen et al., 2019).

Furthermore, Nubholz, Rasmussen & Milios (2019) bring up the matter of how the use of secondary material in building can be of importance to increase the decarbonization of the sector as well as how the implementation of business model innovation and political tools can aid in the transition towards circular building. By using a comparative case study, the research could estimate the potential carbon saving that the usage of secondary material cause. Nubholz et al. (2019) state that their results indicate that secondary material usage causes a potential for carbon saving. What’s interesting is that companies aiming to use secondary materials need an enhancement of the business environment, where they need additional policy interventions to remove the remaining barriers that are existing as of today. Incentives need to be available for companies to offer recovered material at higher value, which can be deployed by public procurement requirements as well as public policies.

2.2 Waste Management

Waste management from a circular economic perspective can reflect itself in the waste hierarchy (see Figure 1 - EU’s waste hierarchy inspired by The EU Commission's waste hierarchy (2008)) which was laid down in a directive from EU (Van Ceneghem et al., 2019). Waste management is defined by Van Ceneghem et al. (2019) as the measures that need to be implemented once waste has been produced; hence, making re-use, recycle, recovery and landfill the possible options. Re-use is the mere preparation of products or components of products that have become waste to ensure that they can be re-used without any processing,

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recycling is when waste is re-processed into other products, recovery being an umbrella term which encompasses energy recovering and ultimately landfill in which one gains no benefit from the material (Turunen & Van Calster, 2016).

Reduce

Reuse

Recycle

Recovery

Landfill

Figure 1 - EU’s waste hierarchy inspired by The EU Commission's waste hierarchy (2008)

Hadzic, Voca & Golubic (2017) state the importance of the flexibility that the European Commission has granted in terms of the waste hierarchy, where economic, technical or environmental factors can weigh in on using energy recovery rather than recycling. Van Ceneghem et al. (2019) further elaborates that certain materials who have a high energy recovery rate is better fit for energy recovery rather than recycling, which according to Merrild, Larsen & Christensen (2012) can be decided through a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The LCA can be used in waste management in order to make optimal strategic choices by valuating recycling of material in retrospect to energy recovery. In most cases, LCA studies that are conducted favor recycling to waste-to-energy as a solution, calculating the environmental benefits that both options generate (Van Ceneghem et al., 2019).

Opposingly, Duong (2017) studies the material of cardboard and the benefits that incineration with energy recovery could produce instead of recycling. The findings of the study suggest that higher credits are due by using incineration with energy recovery, thus inciting recovery as an option. The results of Rigamonti et al. (2018) in their study shows that in some choices of materials, the recycled material does not always uphold the same quality as virgin raw material and is something that actors within the field should consider when deciding whether to use recycled material. Rigamonti et al. (2018) therefore proposes the choice of energy recovery as a solution when the quality of the recycled material cannot be assured.

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2.2.1 Mineral Wool Waste

Mineral wool as waste can be caused both as process waste from the mineral wool production process or as a result from construction and demolition (Väntsi & Kärki, 2012). The authors continue to state that the use of mineral wool waste can differ depending on the quality that it is acquired in. Some technologies allow mineral wool waste to be utilized completely and recycled; however, this requires that the mineral wool is of a certain quality when being collected. Dunster (2011) mentions that mineral wool waste can also be taken advantage of in other areas of construction, such as indoor ceiling tiles. By using the mineral wool from the construction and demolition industry, one can use apply it in another sector and therefore add value. It is the mineral fiber minerals that mineral wool waste can substitute in the process of producing indoor ceiling tiles.

Duran, Leninhan & O´Regan (2006) discuss that in order for waste to be considered recyclable and used in another process, it needs to be evaluated and more profitable than to buying the virgin material. This is something that Dunster (2011) calculates on and discusses the pricing point of using mineral wool waste instead of mineral fibers and finds that each case is different and depends on the transportation costs as well as logistics.

2.3 Industrial Symbiosis

Industrial Symbiosis is characterized as a flow of material that occurs through cooperative organization, which has previously been defined as an industrial ecosystem. Therefore, Industrial Symbiosis can be recognized as a subfield of industrial economy (Yeo et al. 2019). Hinders of the development of industrial ecosystems has been defined by the complexity that it brings; difficulties to apply it with not enough attention focusing on the internal and external facts. Chertow & Ehrenfeld (2012) research on how companies between themselves can establish a self-organizing industrial ecosystem, referred to as Industrial Symbiosis. The findings present a three-stage model beginning with a numerous number of stakeholders engaging with each other. Continuously, the success factors that results in a network benefit need to be identified as well as defining the benefits and ultimately institutionalizing norms to enable successful collaboration (Chertow & Ehrenfeld, 2012). Most importantly is the recognition of benefits for the network, and how each stakeholder can gain profit of this system.

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The self-organizing Industrial Symbiosis as Chertow & Ehrenfeld (2012) examines is merely one of the activities that Industrial Symbiosis can be classified as (Paquin & Howard- Grenville, 2012). Paquin et al. (2012) seeks to understand the evaluation of facilitated networks and further states that Industrial Symbiosis can, aside from self-organization, also evolve from a facilitation by firms, organizations and individuals or from a planned network that stems from a central national plan or vision that needs to be realized. The emergence of Industrial Symbiosis has a heavy emphasize on the process of firms capturing their own interests and creating a self-organized system where they create interaction spaces in which ideas are shared, even within a facilitated network. This analysis is in affiliation of the work of Boons & Howard-Grenville (2009), where an inter-connectivity of companies through norms and trust is considered to be an important factor in the development of Industrial Symbiosis systems. However, Paquin et al. (2012) still highlights the importance of a planned network that stems from a national plan in order to gain goal-directed processes rather than participants sharing norms.

Yeo et. al (2019) conducts a systematic literature review to assess the tools that can be used to promote Industrial Symbiosis and the research culminates in 6 steps to create Industrial Symbiosis; firstly, by preliminary assessment consisting of determining whether there is a potential for creating Industrial Symbiosis in the respective sector. Secondly, the network needs to be built of businesses that have an interest in engaging in the Industrial Symbiosis where awareness and trust is established. Amongst the businesses, synergy opportunities need to be determined in order to analyze the gains and profits. To fully implement the idea of Industrial Symbiosis, a business feasibility needs to be conducted that aids as support in the decision of planning for the Industrial Symbiosis. Finally, a thorough documentation and reinforcement of actual Industrial Symbiosis cases needs to be made with the driving mechanisms and how the Industrial Symbiosis was realized throughout the process.

The rise of authorities that encourage an approach in line with circular economy and circular building has resulted in a stream of Industrial Symbiosis development across the world. The main reason behind this is that Industrial Symbiosis is an approach that progresses towards circular- and bio-based economy through a pragmatic and effective mean (Harris, Mirata, Broberg, Carlsson & Martin, 2019). According to Neves et al. (2019), Industrial Symbiosis is described as the process in which one company benefits from the waste of another’s, by using waste as raw material. Neves et. al (2019) describes Industrial Symbiosis as a “mutually

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beneficial relationship” since the collaboration between entities and companies allow them to exchange resources and by-products with a competitive advantage for the partakers. The contributed research continues to discuss how Denmark has been a success with the implementation of Industrial Symbiosis which has been a self-organizing initiative between companies. However, the highest number of identified cases of Industrial Symbiosis has been in the United Kingdom. This may be due to the fact the government launched a program, National Industrial Symbiosis Programme with the intention of promoting this collaboration model to decrease the use of raw material. Neves et al. (2019) also states that this program can be seen as a legal framework that is slowly developing across nations, insisting that more companies should be on the front in terms of developing Industrial Symbiosis.

Domenech et al. (2019) determine the barriers and drivers of Industrial Symbiosis by using the interviews conducted as a foundation for the framework. The main key drivers are identified such as the decrease of company costs with resources, the creation of new areas of revenues which in turn results in a higher turnover as well as the accomplishment of environmental policy and targets within the company and national goals. However, key barriers include risk and uncertainty of defining the costs-benefits of Industrial Symbiosis, logistics in term of transport costs and ultimately lack of time. This research aligns with the work of Ji et al. (2020) who investigate the factors that promote and inhibit firm’s participation in Industrial Symbiosis by using a quantitative approach. After an extensive literature review, they list the findings, promoting and inhibiting factors which are eventually tested using a questionnaire. The interesting additional finding of this survey is that Ji et al. (2020) conclude that the need to meet requirements of environmental laws and regulations is the most driving factor to participate in Industrial Symbiosis.

2.4 Industrial Symbiosis in Sweden

The research on Industrial Symbiosis in Sweden is limited, with a few cases actually implemented in industries that surpass the real estate and construction industry. Swedish Environmental Institute and RISE, in collaboration with various institutions presented a roadmap on how the Industrial Symbiosis can be encouraged in the climate of Sweden (Harris et al., 2019). They present a SWOT analysis of the current environment on Industrial Symbiosis, with strengths characterized by the circular economy trend and how it can increase the acceptance of Industrial Symbiosis as well as the competitive advantaged that a

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collaborative business culture promotes. However, one weakness is a lack of drivers and incentives. One of the five critical element to support Industrial Symbiosis development and growth is to develop policy drivers and remove barriers for contractors (Harris et al., 2019).

By comparing the needed resources to what has been implemented in the UK, i.e. the National Industrial Symbiosis Program, the research that Harris et al. (2019) lays down suggests a national facilitation program which supports a series of networks have the ability of acting as a driver of Industrial Symbiosis. This will be the foundation of fostering collaboration between the stakeholders in order to unite them. In order for the network to be accomplished and established, Harris et al. (2019) mentions the importance of funding from regional bodies, municipalities and research grants. This sort of funding would enable to run the initial years of the program which is important to incite the stakeholders within to take part. In Sweden, the public procurement can be used as a tool to encourage contractors to foster circular economy. Therefore, the responsibility lies on the municipalities and national government to demand recycling policies as a part of Industrial Symbiosis in the procurement process.

When mapping the Industrial Symbiosis development in Europe, Domenech et al. (2019) conducted an extensive literature review to review the typologies of networks and how these contribute to circular economy. The Local Investment Plans and Climate Investment Program have funded 30% of physical infrastructure to provide for Industrial Symbiosis projects, where local authorities in collaboration with local stakeholders develop strategies to work towards. From the analysis, Domenech et al. (2019) conclude that self-organized networks with operating private stakeholders seem to be more common in Sweden with the support and participation of the local government. The need for the local government to meddle is furtherly highlighted in literature (Notarnicola, Tassielli & Renzulli, 2016) who analyze the constraints and potential new synergies in Italy. Notarnicola et al, (2016) emphasize on incentives that entrepreneurs require to develop their core business economically as well as contributing to positive externalities from an environmental perspective. The firms expressed a willingness to establish a collaboration in an Industrial Symbiosis project if there was a coordinator to conduct the necessary activities for the firms, alternatively a public financial contribution.

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3 Theory

This section will present the relevant theoretical framework from which this research paper is built upon which will be used in analyzing the empirics of the study

3.1 Circular Economy

The term circular economy (CE) has been linked with a wide variety of meanings and associations by different authors. Kircherr et al. (2017) identified 114 definitions and argued that this variety of understandings can be very problematic. However, the concept of CE can typically be contrasted with the traditional “linear economy” (see Figure 2 - Concept of Linear Economy) with the take-make-dispose resource model which turns raw materials into waste in the production process and which is seen to lead to environmental pollution and the removal of natural capital from the environment (Jones & Comfort, 2017).

Take Make Use Dispose Pollute

Figure 2 - Concept of Linear Economy

It is an economic paradigm where resources are kept in use as long as possible, with maximum value extraction. The concept of CE originates from industrial ecology and emphasizes the benefits of recycling waste materials and by-products. The principles of CE embrace all stages of the product life cycle from the product design to the production process through marketing and consumption to waste management, recycling and re-use, which is illustrated in Figure 3 - Concept of Circular Economy.

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Recycle Make

Remake Use

Reuse

Figure 3 - Concept of Circular Economy

The aim is to use methodologies in supply chain management that continuously sustain the circulation of resources within a closed loop system. As a result, this will reduce the need for virgin materials for economic activities and enable products at the end of their life cycle to re- enter the supply chain as a production input through recycling, reusage or remanufacturing (Nasir et al., 2016). The are several different factors that are pressuring for a transitioning into a more circular economy. These include the continuing depletion of scarce natural resources, the supply problems associated with the increasingly volatile international political situation and the unpredictable event associated with climate change and the potential price volatility connected to both these factors. Moreover, the increasing introduction of national and international legislative regulation designed to reduce environmental impact are also driving the implementation of circular economy.

3.2 Supply Chain

There are various definitions of supply chain. One proposition is that a supply chain is a set of firms that pass materials forward. When manufacturing a product and delivering it to the end user, several independent firms are involved such as raw material and component producers, product assemblers, wholesalers, retailer merchants and transportation companies, and this network together forms the supply chain. Another way of defining supply chain is that it is a network of organizations that are involved, through upstream (supply) and downstream (distribution) linkages, in the different processes and activities and activities that produce value in the form of products and services delivered to the ultimate consumer. Mentzer et al. (2001, p.4) combines these definitions and defines supply chain as a set of three or more

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entities (organizations or individuals) directly involved in the upstream and downstream flows of products, services, finances, and/or information from a source to a customer. This is furtherly illustrated in the figure below.

Disposal Manufacturer

Circular Supply Chain

Distribution Use Center

Figure 4 - Illustration of the different steps in the Circular Supply Chain inspired by the figure of Mentzer et al. (2001)

3.2.1 Supply Chain Management

It is important to distinguish between supply chain and supply chain management. Supply chain is a phenomenon that exists in business, often referred to as distribution channels. Supply chain management, however, is defined by Mentzer et al. (2001) as the management of those supply chains and requires transparent and overt management efforts by the organizations within the supply chain. Rather than viewing the supply chain as a set of fragmented parts, the philosophy of SCM takes a systems approach to viewing the supply chain as a single entity and extends the concept of partnerships into a multi-firm effort to manage the total flow of goods from the supplier to the ultimate customer. Moreover, the concept of SCM underline the affect that each firm in the supply chain have directly or indirectly on the performance of all other supply chain members, as well as the overall performance of the supply chain. For this reason, the philosophy of SCM seeks synchronization and convergence of intrafirm and interfirm operational and strategic capabilities into a unified marketplace. The integrative nature of SCM directs supply chain members to focus on developing innovative solutions to create unique, individualized sources of customer value.

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For SCM to be implemented companies must first have supply chain orientation. This is defined as recognizing the activities that are required in managing the flows in a supply chain by an organization (Mentzer et al., 2001). This means recognizing the strategic implication not just in one direction of the supply chain but through the whole chain. SCM is concerned with improving both efficiency (i.e., cost reduction) and effectiveness (i.e., customer service) in a strategic context through integrated supply chain management to obtain competitive advantage and increase profitability. Effective supply chain management is made up of a series of strategic partnerships with long term orientations among firms working together and mutually sharing information, risks, and rewards and that yield a competitive advantage. For this to happen, inter-functional coordination is required including functional shifting within the supply chain, the role of various types of third-party providers, how relationships between companies should be managed as well as the viability of different supply chain structures (Mintzer et al., 2001).

3.3 Industrial Symbiosis

3.3.1 Definition

The approach of Industrial Symbiosis was based on ecological science to describe the organic relationships between industries. In 1947, George Renner investigated production waste and byproducts and their flows among industries and described the possibility that waste from one enterprise could be used as raw material by another industry. It was described as the industrial equivalent of the symbioses that occur in natural ecosystems (Zhang, Zheng, Chen, Su, & Liu, 2015). This concept was further developed when Ayres (1988) proposed the term “industrial metabolism” to describe the whole integrated collection of physical processes that convert raw materials, energy, and labor into finished products and wastes under steady-state conditions.

Frosh and Gallopoulus (1989) proposed the concept of “industrial ecosystems” and advocated for a transformation of the traditional model of industrial activity into a more integrated model that would be the industrial equivalent of natural ecosystems. Within such a system, the consumption of energy and materials would be optimized, waste generation would be minimized, and the wastes and byproducts from one process would serve as raw materials for other processes. This would closely resemble the efficient cycling that occurs in a natural

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ecosystem. Lowe & Evans (1995) further described the industrial ecosystem as analogous to a closed-loop natural system.

For the past 30 years, the field of Industrial Symbiosis has developed quickly, and studies now use systematic methods that originates in the study of complex ecological and biological systems to build on industrial metabolism research and study details of the exchanges of materials and energy through a network of industries. This has proven to provide important insights of ways to improve resource efficiency (Lowe & Evans, 1995). In its Action Plan for Circular Economy, the European Commission targets a more sustainable and resource- efficient economy in Europe and identifies the need to promote Industrial Symbiosis and announces revised European regulation of waste in order “to clarify rules on by-products to facilitate Industrial Symbiosis and help create a level playing field across the EU” (EC, 2015).

3.3.2 Theoretical Background

The term symbiosis originates from biology and refers to “a close, sustained coexistence of two species or kinds of organisms” (Lowe and Evans, 1995). As the field of industrial ecology developed in the 20th century, the symbiosis in natural systems was adopted as an analogy for how industries interact, and soon developed into its own field of research (Lowe and Evans, 1995; Harper and Graedel, 2004; Korhonen, 2004). Industrial Symbiosis as a concept is based on the idea of industrial ecosystems, where symbiotic relationships are established between economically independent industries/companies, typically in a relatively close geographical proximity (Herczeg, Akkerman, & Hauschild, 2018). Cooperation among companies is the precondition for an Industrial Symbiosis complex and through it a network can be formed. The aim of this network is to create systems that make it possible to reuse waste from one industrial process in another industrial process. This way, the consumption of materials and energy can be optimized, and by-products from one industry can serve as raw materials for other industries/companies, decreasing the disposal of waste and the loss of resources (Zhang, Zheng, Chen, Su, & Liu, 2015). This process is presented in figure 7, which explains the outcome of a functioning Industrial Symbiosis. Although the exchanges occur more efficiently over shorter distances, proximity is not a precondition for symbiosis to develop. In fact, Mirata and Emtairah (2005) emphasize that the relationship is not restricted to physical exchanges but could also include exchanges of knowledge and utilization of shared infrastructure.

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Figure 5 - The process and outcome of an Industrial Symbiosis network

There are three dimensions in which Industrial Symbiosis aims to achieve benefits. Economically, companies benefit by reduced cost for sourcing, avoiding disposal cost, and/or gaining extra profit from selling the by-products. Generally, resource efficiency will increase by producing more outputs from the same amount of input (raw materials). From the environmental perspective, the benefits are reduced natural resource consumption and waste disposal as well as reduction of emissions to air, water and soil from the production of the saved raw materials. Finally, the third dimension is the social perspective. The implementation of Industrial Symbiosis leads to a bigger emphasize on the local community and working cooperatively across industries and governmental bodies to contribute to regional economic development ((Zhang, Zheng, Chen, Su, & Liu, 2015).).

3.3.3 Mechanisms

For an Industrial Symbiosis to develop it is important to understand the driving forces of this model. Studies of the mechanisms that lay the baseline for an Industrial Symbiosis have primarily analyzed the factors, including internal industrial metabolic processes that influence the system’s formation and future development. The exchanges and flows of resources are the key aspects that define the symbiosis (Zhang, Zheng, Chen, Su, & Liu, 2015). The driving forces are described in the illustrative figure 8 below.

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Technical Regulations Development

Economic Organizational Drivers and barriers for Industrial Symbiosis

Figure 6 - An illustration showing the main drivers and barriers in the development of Industrial Symbiosis

The first driving force to consider is related to the economic benefits. As previously mentioned, symbiotic relationships among different industries or companies can decrease the cost of raw materials and the disposal cost for waste because the raw materials of one industry or company can be replaced to a degree by the byproducts and wastes of another – improving the economic efficiency of each participant’s operations. However, the development of an Industrial Symbiosis is an evolutionary process that goes through structural and cultural embeddedness and institutionalization, which takes time and social capabilities. Due to the substantial initial costs of Industrial Symbiosis networks, companies often rely on financial support from private investors and governmental bodies and may otherwise be reluctant to participate in case of long payback periods (Herczeg, Akkerman, & Hauschild, 2018).

Herczeg, Akkerman & Hauschild (2018) continue to define the second driving force which relates to the legislations and regulations that form the development of a symbiosis. Many industrial symbioses have developed as eco-industrial parks because of regulatory pressures and as a way of conforming with environmental/waste management regulations and were built to meet the need for improved environmental protection and sustainable development. Taxes related to landfill and energy uses can have a significant impact on companies. This is seen to be a factor that influence the engagement of Industrial Symbiosis networking due to institutional pressure where the institutional environments indirectly force companies to join to appear valid (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983). This aligns with the regulations that Zhang et al. (2015) claim is an essential aspect for companies to establish links with other companies or organizations to meet the legal requirements. Governmental frameworks can facilitate information exchange among different industrial symbioses and provide feedback loops for

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policy makers. Furthermore, regional governments can promote Industrial Symbiosis initiatives and attract regional investments, as well as provide financial support for their development. However, restrictive waste management laws can sometimes act as barriers to Industrial Symbiosis initiative and it is important that they are set on a practical level (Herczeg, Akkerman & Hauschild, 2018).

The third driving force that influence the formation and development of Industrial Symbiosis network relates to technological improvements and innovations. Improvements in material utilization and reuse technologies, and the adjustment of industrial production structures help stimulate the development. As these three factors influence the formation and development of Industrial Symbiosis complexes in different ways it is important to analyze the interactions among these factors to better understand how they are related and what principles that govern these interactions (ibid).

Finally, the fourth driving force is the organizational aspects of an Industrial Symbiosis network. Barringer & Harrison (2000) mention the interorganizational learning that can arise due to a collaboration among companies. The level of the learning that is spread between organizations will heavily influence the company’s decision to engage in Industrial Symbiosis networking. Knowledge that is transferred allows companies to improve their competitive position where one can learn from each other and build their own organization. There is not only a need for tangible exchanges, which profit, and economic gain is mentioned in the previous section, but also intangible exchanges in the form of knowledge. Furthermore Barringer & Harrison mention the risk of companies not being willing to share knowledge since there is a risk of disclosing information that is exclusive to their business.

3.3.4 Industrial Symbiosis within Supply Chain

From an operations and supply chain management perspective, Industrial Symbiosis introduces new supplier-buyer relationships and forms a collaborative supply chain network between previously unrelated companies. The relationships formed in an Industrial Symbiosis is different from traditional supply chain relations since the traded by-products are typically not within the core business of the supplier. This requires a certain degree of shared visions and collective decision-making, necessitating mutual recognition, trust, and information sharing and often some sort of central organization (Herczeg, Akkerman, & Hauschild, 2018).

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Furthermore, newly formed interdependencies often imply technical challenges relating to the quantity and quality of waste flows. To address common challenges, and create an effective collaborative network, knowledge and experience sharing is a key contribution to the development of mutual understanding of circumstances that affect companies and help develop core capabilities.

The coordination of this “collective learning” requires analysis of circumstances and possible improvements, as well as key stakeholders engaged in collaboration. Trust, open communication and joint problem solving are essential for the functioning of Industrial Symbiosis complexes and are leveraged through social networking. Transparency and dissemination of information among business partners needs to be emphasized, as it engages key stakeholders to secure their commitment and improve supply chain processes. Transparency should also reduce unethical (or illegal) behavior, thus further improve social sustainability while simultaneously reducing transaction costs for external stakeholders interested in assessing company’s social responsibility. Moreover, to make collaboration sustainable, it is important to coordinate the distribution of risks and benefits among the companies as it affects their long-term commitments.

To align incentives, companies share objectives, make joint decisions, and often rely on each other’s trustworthiness. Typically, logistical integration requires an information system that collects, stores, and works with operational data (Herczeg, Akkerman, & Hauschild, 2018). Furthermore, to coordinate the terms of production and delivery and minimize risks, suppliers and customers typically have written contracts and agreements (Herzeg, 2016). Although the idea of collaboration is joint efforts and collective benefits, companies do not always share these equally, which may be a factor for conflict. Further, companies don’t necessarily depend on each other to the same extent causing asymmetrical relationships. Consequently, some companies may experience the benefits and/or high risks not worthwhile the efforts of participation. However, the importance of sustainable supply chains is continuously growing making it increasingly challenging to ignore collaboration across industries (Herczeg, Akkerman, & Hauschild, 2018). The organizational and operational aspects of the challenges that arise in an Industrial Symbiosis network is illustrated in figure 9. This figure is out of importance since it depicts the outcome of an integration and coordination with Industrial Symbiosis on both an organizational and operational aspect that later will be used as a foundation to analyze the empirics.

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Integration Coordination

Create synergies between Establish the long-term the processes that different collaboration where the companies have involved companies share Organizational profit, risks and benefits Offer a communication aspects platform by integrating local Social networking in order to industries into an find solutions to problems organizational unit

Have a local system where waste is collected Include original and recycled materials in the procurement process as well as production Install waste treatment planning Operational storage centers aspects Manage quality uncertainties Share information on waste in waste flows flows between stakeholders

Figure 7 - The challenges in an Industrial Symbiosis Network System in terms of organization and operation inspired by the illustration of Herczeg (2016)

3.3.5 Types of Industrial Symbiosis

The study of Industrial Symbiosis has over the years progressed from studying the exchanges that occur within companies to include the exchanges among companies, and finally to include regional exchanges of resources and information sharing (Chertow, 1999, 2000). There are three main perspectives from which researchers have examined the different types of symbioses. First, by investigating external factors, such as the location of the eco-industrial park, the factors that are influencing its formation, its development history, and its current status (Zhang, Zheng, Chen, Su, & Liu, 2015).

Improvement of the systems’ environmental performance, and the economic and social benefits, combined with the regulations imposed by local or national governments is a major influence of the evolution and growth of an Industrial Symbiosis complex. Including this factor, Chertow (2007) proposed two additional categories: planned eco-industrial parks and self-organizing parks. The self-organizing parks are developed by existing private actors who are motivated to exchange their resources as a result of the abovementioned influences. The

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aim of these parks is to gain economic benefits in terms of cost reductions, increased revenues, and business expansion. In contrast, planned eco-industrial parks emerge as a result of conscious effort often promoted by governmental bodies to identify companies from different industries that could potentially collaborate, and to promote resource sharing among these companies (ibid).

Another way of categorizing the different types of symbiosis complexes is to use internal characteristics of the system, such as the relationships between members and the structural distribution of a system. Based on the different industrial compositions of a system, eco- industrial parks can be categorized into sector-integrated, sector-specific, and reuse and recycling parks. Sector-integrated parks consists of companies from different industrial sectors mainly developed from economic and high-tech industrial development zones. Sector- specific parks contain one or more core enterprises from the same industrial sector, as well as some other enterprises from related industries. These types of parks are mainly developed through increasing the integration of the flows of materials and energy. Reuse and recycling parks consist of companies who are specifically engaged in reuse, recycling and resource recovery. The idea of these parks is to reduce the negative impact on the environment by preventing potentially useful resources from becoming wastes, and by using these resources to replace the consumption of raw materials. With the help of advanced technology and company coordination, wastes generated by industrial production and consumption processes can be transformed into recycled or reused resources and products (Zhang, Zheng, Chen, Su, & Liu, 2015).

Eco-industrial parks can further be divided into dependency-oriented, equality-oriented, and nested categories, depending on the nature of the relationship among participants in a network products (Zhang, Zheng, Chen, Su, & Liu, 2015). Dependency-oriented parks develop around one or more companies. Equality-oriented parks gives equal status to all participants and the companies do not rely exclusively on each other. Nested eco-industrial parks combine aspects of both categories. Companies in these parks can be divided into three categories depending on whether they are dominated by parasitism, commensalism, or mutualism. If they are dominated by parasitism the dynamics are such that one or more of the companies benefit at the expense of one or more of the other companies. If companies are dominated by commensalism, one or more companies benefit from belonging to the system but without

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harming other companies. A mutualistic dynamic within the complex is one in which most relationships among companies are beneficial to each company (ibid).

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4 Method

This section will introduce the reader into the methodology that the authors have chosen to conduct this study with as well as a presentation of the interviewees and the reliability and validity that the study entails

4.1 Research Design

In order to conduct the research, it is out of importance to address the procedure of obtaining the empirical results required to answer the research questions. The research question is of abductive nature, meaning that an inductive and deductive research approach is combined (Saunders et al., 2016). Inductivism describes an approach where theory is derived from empirical findings, whilst deductivism is when the researcher derives empiricism from a theoretical framework. Hence, the abductive research approach is characterized by using both theory and empirical findings that is thoroughly used and compared throughout the research to gain an understanding of the phenomenon that is being studied. The use of abductive research will make it possible to alter the strategy of the research depending on the outcome of the different steps throughout the research (Saunders et al., 2016). This was useful in this study when deriving what material supply chain that would be further investigated. The choice of mineral wool as a potential candidate for symbiosis was derived after an extensive literature review as well as the interviews conducted in the early stages. Due to the nature of the study, the analysis will be based on different actor’s thoughts, attitudes and perceptions of a potential collaboration towards circular building and a higher degree of recycle. The interviewed respondents consisted of actors within the supply chain which will be presented (see section 4.2.1). The results generated is expected to be both richly descriptive and driven by empiricism, meaning a qualitative research approach is most fitting in this research.

A qualitative approach can be conducted with different methods, the one that the authors deem most appropriate to use in this study is semi-structured interviews (Saunders et al., 2016). The use of semi-structured interviews is preferred over structured interviews due to the flexibility that a semi-structured interview generates (Bryman & Bell, 2011). The flexibility allows the conversation during the interview to get more in depth and provides the researcher more basis for the analysis. Thus, the open environment that arises due to the type of chosen methodology simplifies it for the respondent to expand on their reasoning (Kallio et al., 2016). This was apparent during the interviews as there was space fot the respondnets to

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further elaborate on the matters that they deemed most important. However, to maintain the interview within the planned frameworks, the authors will create a list of questions that are expected to be reached during the interview (Alshenqeeti, 2014) (see appendix A-E).

4.2 Semi-structured interviews

To conduct the semi-structured interviews in a productive matter, Barriball & While (1994) mentions the qualifications that the interviews needs to acquire before the conduction of interviews. The literature study performed gave an insight as to how the semi-structured interviews should be conducted, both in terms of what questions to ask as well as who to interview. Saunders et al., (2016) states that the risk of the results being partial might occur when performing semi-structured interviews: however, this was solved by ensuring a choice of respondents to compile enough spread in the answers.

4.2.1 Collection of Data

Since the aim of the study is to present a framework of the responsibilities and obligations that each actor has in a potential collaboration to improve the waste management according to the theoretical framework of Industrial Symbiosis, interviews with different actors across the supply chain were conducted (i.e. from raw material, through material handling, material supply, transportation, storage and recycling). Primarily, an identification of the actors in such collaboration was needed, which was possible after an extensive literature review as well as an analysis on the supply chain of the chosen material, mineral wool. The literature review included scientific journals and research that have been peer-reviewed, to ensure that the studies that are analyzed have relevancy to modern research. The data collected can be seen as a form of secondary data, which can be defined as information that is already existent and is collected by someone other than the author (Hedin, 2014). This data is also later in the study used to cross-refer with the primary data that is gathered through the semi-structured interviews.

In total, 10 interviews were conducted where questions were used as a foundation for all interviews. However, there were room for follow up questions and deeper elaborations from the respondents. The questions differed according to each actor to guarantee that their perspective could be highlighted throughout the study. The interview questions for each stakeholder are presented in the appendix. What unites the actors is that they have a direct

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relation with the construction industry, as well as a direct or indirect connection to the waste management of respective company or organization. This is significant to the study since the results should reflect the opinions of what active stakeholders potentially expect from a collaboration in the context of Industrial Symbiosis. Since this thesis is conducted in cooperation with a construction company, the opinions from the contractor’s perspective were compiled from this specific company. This could ultimately lead to bias in the results, which is discussed in the section of validity and reliability (see chapter 4.3 Reliability and validity).

Each respondent was categorized due to their specific role within the company to collect perspective along the supply chain. Besides the contractor’s perspective, interviews were conducted with sustainability managers from a municipal company, two waste management contractors as well as a supplier of mineral wool. Two different waste management contractors were chosen to receive a broader perspective to further compare the results. Below is a table which summarizes the length of the interview as well as the different professions each stakeholder has.

Table 1 - Table of all the respondents, their position as well as the length of the interview

Actor Respondent Role Length Recycling Company Respondent A Sustainability communication 1h manager & CEO Respondent B Head of Environmental 1h Municipal Resident Management Company Respondent C Climate Project Manager 30 min

Respondent D Environmental and Quality 1h Waste Management Manager Contractor Respondent E Contract Manager 1h

Respondent F Environmental Development 1h Manager Contracting Respondent G Project Manager 1h Company Respondent H Sustainability Manager 1h

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Respondent I Contract and Supply Manager 1h

Material Supplier Respondent J Head of Sustainability 1h

4.2.2 Ethics

Prior to the research, the researcher is required to confirm that the study is being conducted according to the frameworks and characteristics of ethical standards (Bryman & Nilsson, 2011). According to Bryman & Nilsson (2011), a research should follow four principles that can help guide the researcher throughout the process, which is what this research has followed when conducting the semi-structured interviews. Primarily, the researcher should inform the respondent of the purpose of the research and how the information that the respondent is giving will be used in the study. Once the respondent has been given the information, they need to give consent whether they would like to participate in the interview. Ultimately, the researcher should inform the respondent that the data that is being collected will be treated with confidentiality. At this state, the respondents can choose whether to be anonymous or not in the study. In the interviews that the authors have conducted in this research, the respondents have chosen to be anonymized.

4.3 Reliability and validity

The concepts of reliability and validity have received much criticism from qualitative researchers as the concepts originate from the quantitative method. There is no constant object in qualitative research and the results of measurements at different times can give different answers depending on the interviewees' mood and stress level. Thus, this study will see the reliability that subordinates the validity, that is, if the validity is good, the reliability is also good (Svensson & Starrin, 1996). The focus of this section will therefore be on presenting the study's validity.

Svensson and Starrin (1996) present validity as the relationship between an account and something outside this account. The theoretical concepts used in the study come primarily from research in the same field. In cases where a fair translation from English is difficult to do, concepts of origin have been used in the report. The concepts from the literature study matched the responses of the respondents in a good way and it very rarely happened that the author needed to interpret the concepts used by the interviewees. It is also difficult to make a

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systematic generalization based on qualitative research (which is not the aim of this study). The selection is not based on randomness and does not strive to have external generalizability or external validity (Bryman, 2011). The study wants to strive for analytical generalizability.

In order to increase validity, two practical approaches have been used, data triangulation and feedback from the informants. According to Svensson and Starrin (1996), data triangulation is a strategy to show how credible a result is. This study has applied triangulation using several different data sources, documents, observations and interviews.

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5 Empirics

This section will present the findings of the investigation consisting of the perspectives of the different actors that were interviewed and potential success factors and barriers for the establishment of an Industrial Symbiosis network

5.1 Waste Management

Respondent D, a waste management contractor, specifically works with environmental and quality matters, meaning they have a more instinctive understanding of how their partners work with recycling, in which they stated that mineral wool waste has during the last 15 years been transported to landfill. However, both waste management contractors mention how new processes of recycling have enabled for mineral wool waste to be recycled and that this should incentivize clients and contractors to take advantage of this and further move towards a more sustainable waste management.

In specific, one supplier and recycler, respondent A, has a thorough model where all mineral wool waste can be collected and recycled into a new product. The respondent mentions how in order for them to remain competitive on the market, they only accept a certain waste management contractor to be in the contract when procuring them as a supplier of mineral wool. Their technology is also specific and simply allows their own material of mineral wool to be collected for recycling, whereas mineral wool from other suppliers cannot be guaranteed to be recycled. Respondent F, an environmental development manager at a contractor explains that the main advantage of using the supplier of respondent A is that they accept the mineral wool in any shape of form, which saves tremendous amount of time when fractioning the waste at the construction place.

Furthermore, respondent H, explained the business model of the contractor company they work for, establish that they as of recent have started working with waste minimization and find circular solutions rather than solely following regulations. Respondent G continues to state that their waste management is aligned with the directives that the European Commission has given, where prioritization is given to firstly reducing waste, then reusing, recycling, recovering and ultimately landfill. Additionally, they mention that the contractor company have an organizational goal of reaching 2% waste that is sent to landfill and that the recycling and recovery management of the waste is dependent on material and project since

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each project has a different outcome. The contractor company is in charge of project where they are the client, and inter-organizationally they have high demands on reaching a high level of recycling due to their strive towards becoming more sustainable in their work. However, when they are solely the contractor and work for clients, they focus on the requirements that clients add, which they state has started to become increasingly high with a special focus on waste management and recycling.

Furthermore, mineral wool is a material that they work on increasing the recyclability of by collaborating with the recycling company, respondent A, in a recent project. Both the recycling company, respondent A, and the project manager from the contracting company, respondent G, state that the collaboration worked smoothly. Respondent G however claim that the fact that the recycling company demand that the contractor works with a certain waste management contractor is a hinder for using them in further projects. They state that by employing a higher degree of collaboration with different waste management contractors as well as other suppliers will simplify using their services in future projects. Respondent I share the same view and claims that the contractor is not willing to bow down to the recycling company and to use simply one waste management contractor since they have contracts and agreements with other waste management contractors as well in other projects which they need in order to collect as much statistics as possible. This statistic is important for the further development of the contractor’s business model as it shows how much waste is generated and how the waste is managed in terms of reuse, recycle and recovery.

The second waste management contractor, respondent E, has a joint pilot project with this supplier, which is a development in progress. They state that the major driving force is the fact that a wider scale of clients has as of late involved requirements in the procurement process where the ability to recycle materials is emphasized on. Before the technology and innovation made it possible for mineral wool to be fully recycled, mineral wool was torn apart and sold as bulks where it would not be recycled into a new product. The first waste management contractor, respondent D, has a business model that stands out from the other respondents in which they focus on arranging education centers specialized in waste management for construction workers in order for them to apply it in their daily work. In addition, respondent D also mentions that staff from the waste management contractor is on site of different projects to make sure that the best waste solution is being offered dependent on the type of the project.

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What all actors and respondents agree on is that recovery in terms of energy is something that they take advantage of since the energy that is generated generates an income for their business. Despite this, they also agree upon the fact that recycling in the form of material is a better option that they need to work on; however, there needs to be a better form of economic incentives for them to want to fully invest in it. Respondent A states that this mindset is holding back the industry from moving towards a more circular building since recycling material and mineral wool as an example from their perspective, is not more economical profitable than landfill and recovery from a short-time perspective but rather than a long-term perspective. By applying a long-term perspective, respondent A believes that the industry can prioritize recycling material as well as gaining profit for their business.

5.2 Industrial Symbiosis

5.2.1 Driving Forces

The potential driving forces behind the establishment of a collaborating network with the attributes of an Industrial Symbiosis are many according to the respondents and vary depending on the perspective of the actor. What all the respondents agree upon is the fact that one of the major driving force behind this is the increasing amount of attention that the European Commission is giving to the development of circular economy and future requirements that might come that will force companies to re-think their business models. Respondent G believes that working with new methods such as Industrial Symbiosis which can provide to counteract the negative externalities of the current state of waste management, can prepare the companies in good time and rise above the expectations. The company that respondent G works for has a high environmentally sustainable profile and working with new methods is out of importance and collaborating with other sectors to better work with recycling is seen as a driving force.

Another driving force that respondent G & F highlight is the importance of the digital technology developing, which can include various systems that can simplify the development of a facilitated network system with different actors where Industrial Symbiosis can foster. The technical development can also bring positive change for suppliers where respondent J mentions how the fact that suppliers can digitalize their materials which makes it easier for

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contractors to be able to re-send material that is leftover at the construction site. This will also enhance collaboration since one can compare buildings and see where recycling can be utilized by the contractor as well as finding improvements for future projects, according to respondent C. Respondent H, a sustainability manager for a contractor, mentions the fact that the contractor has a database of the waste that occurs at every project. This information is collected by the waste management contractor, where all the projects are followed up. Using this, as well as previously mentioned technological developments, one can increase the transparency which is out of importance to create a collaborating network where the actors rely on trust and mutual growth instead of solely competition.

Using mineral wool as an example can be seen as a driving force as well since the material has a process where it can be recycled. However, what respondents from the contractor and waste management contractor agree on is that the recycling process needs to include other mineral wool suppliers. The fact that mineral wool also can be used in other materials such as bulks, in landfill as well as cement and brick is something that respondent A, J and E, state is an important driving force for establishing a collaborating network between different sectors so the waste of mineral wool can be used in various processes other than solely recycling into mineral wool. Respondent I elaborate further on this statement, where they state that mineral wool that cannot be recycled is sent to another company that is there processed into bulks which can be used in different fragments of industries. This waste that occurs is something that the waste management contractor is in charge of, whilst the contractor is responsible in the early stages where they need to sign contracts that allow waste to be dealt with other actors.

According to respondent G, the fact that a large amount of construction companies come together and collaborate is seen as a positive addition since waste management contractors can allocate a larger amount of construction sites to collect waste, thus decreasing transport and logistic costs. Doing so, one can decrease the transports as well as increasing the utilization of containers that are being collected from each construction site.

The implementation of Industrial Symbiosis could be way to further develop the waste management work that the contractors work with today, states respondent F. The head of environmental management at the municipality of Stockholm, respondent B, agrees with this and mentions that the mutual waste demands that they have released is simply a milestone in

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the work they want the industry to work with. By using the mutual waste demands as a basis for further enforcing the building industry to come together across sectors and work towards increasing resource efficiency and decreasing the waste that is sent to landfill and recovery, it is possible to move in the direction of creating an Industrial Symbiosis. Respondent C believes that the municipality functioning as a coordinator might have a spinoff effect whilst having control over the entity of supply chain. However, they believe that a huge driving force in establishing Industrial Symbiosis is that the contractors will be forced to make smart decisions regarding their waste which will add to economic benefits to the company.

5.2.2 Challenges

Despite the potential driving forces that prevail the establishment of Industrial Symbiosis, there are still some challenges in creating a network of that kind that the respondents lifted in the interviews. What the respondents from the contracting company as well as the recycling company agreed upon is the need for economic incentives in order for the early stages of the Industrial Symbiosis not to be too costly for the involving actors. The contractor introduces the idea of the municipality or government functioning as a coordinator which also involves them financially aiding the development of the concept. Respondent H mentions that contractors need to find an investment feasible as well as profitable, which a concept like Industrial Symbiosis that has not been tested within this industry does not guarantee. Therefore, respondent G encourages governmental policies and municipalities to fund development programs that will lead to a facilitated network with a large group of stakeholders that come together for the built of an Industrial Symbiosis.

Another obstacle that all respondents agree upon is a challenge in the establishment of Industrial Symbiosis is early stages of an Industrial Symbiosis where each actor needs to be well informed about the profits they will entail in this collaboration. It is out of importance that one establishes the benefits each actor will gain as well as what each actor is expected to do, which can be a difficult task since it is still unclear in the beginning on what the profit will be. With this challenge comes also the platform that is necessary for Industrial Symbiosis to function, something that all respondents agree is a difficult and challenging. Respondent A mentioned confusion as to who would be initiating the platform, whilst respondent from the contractor mentions the government as a public initiator whilst the waste management contractor being a coordinator since they have the contacts amongst the supply chain. The

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respondents state that a digital platform would be a good idea, but that it is still unclear as to what platform would be used. This is something that creates uncertainty according to respondent B.

Although the fact that logistics and transportation is seen as a driving force due to the collaboration amongst different building projects, respondent J states that there is an uncertainty with where the material is supposed to be stored and that the transport distance from building projects to a recycling station may be too long for it to be profitable. The landfill taxes are high, which creates more incentives for contractors to recycle material instead; however, if the transportation costs are too high, respondent J argues that recycling might not be too profitable in comparison to other waste solutions. For the collaboration within Industrial Symbiosis to function as well, there needs to be a vast amount of waste to be collected and therefore the collaboration needs to be of scale.

Furthermore, something that respondent A lifts as a challenge is how an Industrial Symbiosis and the transparency it requires can defeat the purpose of their competitive and unique technology that they use for recycling mineral wool. They believe the network of a can function if they are allowed to keep their competitive position on the market, whilst the reality of an Industrial Symbiosis requires that they work together with a variety of waste management contractors, whilst as of today they solely allow a partnering with contractors if they use their choice of waste management contractor (see chapter 5.1).

A point that respondent J & G brings up is the fact that an Industrial Symbiosis without governmental regulations will not due the collaborating partners in the network good. An improved waste management with recycling as an option is more expensive, and if this is enlisted in the bid that contractors appeal to clients, they will be ignored by the clients who might choose cheaper bids with no recycling as an option and thus a cheaper contract. If the government does not introduce regulations that will function in the favor of the stakeholders in the Industrial Symbiosis, it will solely be a challenge for them to overcome. Being more sustainable and working towards national and international goals should not be punished, rather than encouraged.

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5.2.3 Requirements and Regulations

Using a form of requirements and regulations as a tool to promote recycling and circular building within the framework of Industrial Symbiosis was discussed by all the respondents. The discussion was elaborated on different fields by the respondents since they had different perspectives on who the responsible actor is among the establishment of Industrial Symbiosis and the constant development of improving circular building.

Respondent A state that they have requirements within their organization that solely allow clients to use their recycling services if they sign a contract with a specific waste management contractor, the belonging company to respondent F. What the recycling company strikes as interesting and should be an accelerating force to initiate a more upscale recycling is requirements, especially from public clients such as the municipality. Respondent C, from the municipality further elaborates that the municipality does in fact have requirements in terms of waste management; however, there are no sanctions or fees if these requirements are not fulfilled which does not incentives the contractor to work according to these requirements.

According to respondent B and C, who both work for the municipality, the municipality of Stockholm in collaboration with major stakeholders have made efforts into collecting the entire building sector by initiating mutual waste demands that all actors within the building industry should follow. Respondent C states that the municipality should be in charge of making sure that these mutual demands are followed. They continue to discuss that the initiative of actors within an Industrial Symbiosis should be a public initiative where regulations are created to enforce a collaboration amongst sectors. By allowing companies across sectors to collaborate in order to benefit from each other’s synergies, the degree of recycling can increase as well as the reuse of waste. They also mention that the public government could aid by also initiating development projects, where they finance it to incentivize companies to take part.

Furthermore, respondent C also claims that the network that is present in an Industrial Symbiosis cannot be taken into account by the municipality as an actor since they only have dialogue with the contractor; thus, not leaving room for them to create a close collaboration with the other stakeholders that is necessary. In this aspect, respondent C and D state that the waste management contractor is a necessary key player in the development of an Industrial

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Symbiosis, since they have a direct contact with suppliers, recycling companies as well as contractors. They are well aware of the legal responsibilities in the form of regulations and laws that they need to act in according to, which stipulates from a higher power. Thus, they are intertwined with the whole supply chain and can therefore be the coordinator for such collaboration.

Respondent E, a waste management contractor, believes that contractors should add requirements regarding the type of material in the mineral wool that is being purchased by the suppliers. Furthermore, they claim that there should be a requirement in regard that the mineral wool the contractor purchases contains recycled material. They believe this since they notice that there is not a big enough interest from the suppliers in terms of recycled material, whilst a lot of clients and contractors have an aim of achieving more recycled material. This can be achieved by contracting a supplier that promises an actual sustainability profile with recycled material. Furthermore, respondent F, G, H & I all agreed that the supplier should offer a re-take system where the waste that is generated in a construction site should be able to be brought back to the supplier so that they deal with it. Respondent J, a supplier of mineral wool, mentioned that the contractor needs to reassure the quality of the material for it to be interesting for them to facilitate a re-take system where the waste is brought back to the supplier. They state that this is something that is hard to provide, which hinders it from becoming a reality.

In regards of the network that an Industrial Symbiosis requires, respondent F believes that a waste management contractor has an important role in coordinating such work between different actors. However, both respondent D and E believe that the contractor is responsible for initiating a network with actors collaborating since they have the choice to demand that their suppliers have a certain profile and gather different suppliers to work together so they can achieve an Industrial Symbiosis. The Industrial Symbiosis is according to respondent E dependent on the fact that recycling stations are located in areas where waste can be transported there without it being too costly for the different stakeholders. If recycling is a demand, these recycling stations that function to different sectors is an important center for Industrial Symbiosis to be able to grow and prosper.

Respondent E continues to mention how Holland works with reuse and recycling where a computer system allows people to see the buildings as material banks and the qualities that

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each material has. This helps for future renovation projects where one can see which material is fit for recycling and reuse. This type of register can be used for different sectors, respondent E claims that with this type of technology at hand one can benefit from knowing which material from a building can be used in another process. This sort of usage can be implemented as a demand for all contractors and subcontractors by public governments in order to ensure that an actual movement towards Industrial Symbiosis is realized.

Moving towards Industrial Symbiosis and the establishment of a network among construction companies have been on the agenda according to all the respondents, who agree that there needs to be accelerated. Respondent H believes that regulations are one of the driving forces which can make contractors re-think their business models and include collaboration with other contractors and other sectors. The question that will arise in the future is not about how to manage waste, rather than how to manage resources. Waste will turn into resource where contractors need to ask themselves how leftover material from one construction site can be transferred into a process in order for it to be used in another site.

5.2.4 Planning in early phase

All respondents agreed on the fact that in order to implement an expanded collaboration for improved resource efficiency it is important to have a progressive approach. All respondents agreed that it is important to have a progressive approach when trying to reduce waste or/and increase recycling. The question one should ask according to the respondents is how the recycling process can be dealt with easier under the lines of Industrial Symbiosis.

According to respondent D it is important to start in the early design phase. If they are to reduce material waste it is important for product designers to along with performance, also consider what will happen to the product after its demise. One of the first factors to consider when attempting to recycle a product is the ease of disassembly. It is discouraging for users to recycle products if it requires too much work to deconstruct the product and therefore we need product design that make it as convenient as possible or else users will continue to choose the easy and cheap way which is to send it to landfill, although it is becoming more expensive due to taxes. Respondent D concludes that this in turn will be influenced by the nature of the product, how long it is expected to be used as well as its recycling capabilities.

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Respondent B adds to that argument by also including the design of whole buildings. The less complicated the dimensions of the buildings are the easier it is to order the right amount of material and the less will go to waste from the production during assembly. In other words, the more standard dimensions we can use the better. Furthermore, data from previous projects could be better used for prediction of material needs to avoid over-ordering. Respondent D continues on that same note regarding standard dimensions and states that the amount of gypsum for example that goes to waste during assembly can differ a lot depending on who is doing the work. For this reason, it is crucial to make sure every worker on site have the proper education and competency to execute in a way that produces as little waste as possible, and this would obviously be easier to do with more standard dimensions.

According to Respondent G, it is important to have clear and consistent guidelines for waste management early in the procurement phase so that each party is on board with the environmental agenda for the project and to avoid the passing of responsibility between clients and contractors. Waste management need to be considered as an ongoing process rather then something to take care of at the end of production and therefore we need to have earlier planning and involvement throughout the supply chain. Moreover, the waste hierarchy still holds, which means the main priority is waste prevention, before looking at any eventual recycling. Respondent G states that there have been major improvements in this area recent years due to the increased external pressures to reduce environmental impact. Before each project, they set goals for the environmental impact of their projects, such as reaching certain environmental certificates for the building, but also internal environmental goals within the company such as (the green map) as they call it, where the aim is to reduce the amount that goes to landfill as well as improve the overall environmental “performance” of the buildings. However, there is still big room for improvements across the industry overall, respondent G concludes.

Regarding the implementation of a larger scale Industrial Symbiosis respondent F states that stakeholders need to gather in meetings preferably on the initiative of regional or local authorities to discuss how a collaboration might look like. There needs to exist clear communication channels as well as knowledge and project experience sharing to identify perspectives on how to make implementation as practical as possible while creating strategic alignment among the stakeholders for economic gains and reduced environmental impact.

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5.2.5 Logistics and transport

When discussing the logistics of the waste management process and how a potential symbiosis network would function logistically, respondent I, a contract and supply manager from a construction contractor, stated that a major factor of the infrastructure of a potential Industrial Symbiosis would be related to the geographical locations of the companies/projects. For example, by having a waste contractor pick up waste from multiple projects with close proximity it would be possible to reduce the transportation costs and logistical efforts. If they were too far away however, it would not be as feasible. It might not be worthwhile to transport heavy and irregular loads of waste if there are long distances between project as well as to the recycling station, for the sake of recycling. However, if regular loads could be picked up from projects with proximity to each other it becomes more interesting. Moreover, respondent I referred to a recent collaboration with a mineral wool recycling company where the company wanted the contractor to deliver the wool all the way to their recycling station, which was not very convenient from the contractor’s point of view.

When asked about the role of material suppliers within a potential recycling collaboration, respondent J stated that material suppliers are not really interested in an increased recycling and the use of secondary materials. This would be considered bad for business since it would mean that the demand for their supply would decrease. There needs to exist clear guidelines and requirements regarding material attributes such as for example that a certain proportion of the materials used have to stem from secondary materials. This would incentivize the use of secondary materials for contractors as well as causing material producers and suppliers to make sure the materials they supply have the right environmental attributes that fulfil these requirements.

There are multiple factors that need to function in a synchronized matter for the implementation of large-scale supply chains to be possible. Respondent B, talked about the importance of building trust across the stakeholders involved in the supply chain, but also for local authorities to be able to examine the validity of the supply chains. To do this, it requires a certain level of transparency, which could be created by using technology that make it possible to track the position of the materials through its journey. Logistical information regarding waste streams from different companies is valuable as it can give perspective on

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potential material exchanges. With good information system it is possible to share that information among companies, to help aid for this development respondent B concludes.

Respondent G discussed the possible complexity of handling by products since they differ from original materials and might need additional efforts in designing and operating storage facilities and production systems. Moreover, a potential combination of secondary products and original products could make the production process more complex concerning inventory management, the amount of purchasing raw materials and planning of production with multiple material sources. The potential use of both secondary materials and raw materials in production could also affect agreements with current raw material suppliers, with higher prices from the supplier as a probable reaction. For this reason, it is essential to consider how existing supplier-buyer relationships would be affected by an Industrial Symbiosis network since it would inevitably disrupt current contracts and existing work processes. It is clear that a project like this, while bringing some great opportunities also entails some uncertainties for stakeholders not least in the existing supplier-buyer networks, and for this reason respondent G is of the opinion that agreements between coordinating partnerships need to have some flexibility as a hedge against some of these uncertainties.

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6 Analysis

This section will present an analysis of the findings which involves the presentation of each responsibility that the actors have respectively which cultivates in a tentative model that shows the relationship between the actors in a potential Industrial Symbiosis network

6.1 Main motivations for engaging in Industrial Symbiosis networking

6.1.1 Institutional Pressure

Something that all respondents collectively could agree upon is the fact that a pressure from higher institutional power in the form of regulations and demands could lead to companies working with Industrial Symbiosis networking, which could lead to an improved waste management. By increasing the demands that are set from clients to contractors, companies could initiate a network system which allows them to gain from each other’s synergies. This is aligned with the previous research that has been found on the subject, where Ji et al. (2020) concluded that the motivation for corporations and companies to participate in Industrial Symbiosis is highly affected by the need to meet requirements of environmental laws and regulations. However, what most Industrial Symbiosis initiatives are defined by is a geographically narrow placed network in order for them to reach a synergetic effect. This is something that the respondent G agreed on and further analyzed the need for different regulations for different areas and that this question should be implemented on a municipal level, thus meaning that the municipality plays an important role in the implementation of Industrial Symbiosis.

Previous studies have indicated that the ecological footprint of buildings that are constructed with recycled waste material is significantly lesser than a building constructed with raw virgin material (Iringova, Vandlickova & Divis, 2019). This fact should be an incentive enough for local government to add institutional pressure to contractors and construction companies to recycle material as well as using recycled material in their projects. Respondent I mentioned that a lot of companies claim to have an environmental profile, and with that being said many companies seem to ignore the fact that using recycled material and being involved in such networks inhibit a more circular building. Should they want to promote their green profile furtherly, respondent I & A mention the importance of being productive and taking actions. However, all the respondents agreed that the initiation should be on a public level, in order to

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create a neutral market where competitiveness can be challenged instead of having more sustainable alternatives be more detrimental to their profit. This is due to the fact that many of the sustainable alternatives that some companies might be willing to take are more expensive and therefore the contractor will lose their bids to clients due to the pricing. If there is a requirement of sustainable alternatives, innovative solutions will be enforced, and competitiveness will be created on the market.

Although this is in alignment with the theoretical framework, previous literature regarding the construction sector stipulates that the construction sector often feels the need for government funding despite the fact that the sector can be seen as a profitable industry. Therefore, it becomes a question of initiating rather than funding from governmental level, by providing the actors in the construction industry with the right tools and enabling them to achieve Industrial Symbiosis without government funding. This forces the contractors, clients in the form of real estate developers as well as other actors to realize that sustainable solutions can only be attained if they have a long-term perspective on profit rather than a short-term return on investment.

When analyzing the literature review that recognizes the cases of Industrial Symbiosis in Sweden, the companies seem to solely be involved due to the environmental regulations that affect their businesses (Harris et al., 2019). This is an indication that Sweden should strive towards implementing more local plans that imposes companies to organize and gain off each other’s synergies. These local plans should be mirrored according to the construction sector, which involves the different companies that might have a use for the waste products that construction & demolition waste entails. Literature of Neves et al. (2019) emphasizes the slowly developing legal framework of Industrial Symbiosis that is being implemented across nations, which is a further indicator for Swedish construction companies to be in the front of developing Industrial Symbiosis, especially since a lot of the interviewed actors have strikingly shown a positive outlook to the system. Furthermore, literature states that this sort of collaboration could be companies involved in indoor ceiling tiles or concrete since the waste of mineral wool can be used in their production processes. Respondent E, an actor from a waste management contractor, says that the fact that mineral wool can be used in various sectors should be seen as an inclination as to why Industrial Symbiosis is a necessity for the development of waste management.

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When involving more materials, respondent E stated that Industrial Symbiosis might get too complex since more actors are involved. This is supported by literature which says that one of the main barriers to the implementation of Industrial Symbiosis is the complexity that it entails. Although the UK National Program for Industrial Symbiosis (see chapter 2.3.1) has been successful, it is important to realize that different countries and different sectors have different needs. In Sweden within the construction sector, a more down-cycled approach might be more fitting with a self-organizing structure where companies collaborate with the funding of the government according to a municipal plan. This is something that respondent C mentions, who works for the government, and that they see collaboration from companies as a positive attribute and encourages regulators to implement regulations and policies that will incentivize companies to actually perform this.

6.1.2 Networking and increasing knowledge between companies

Something that the respondents from the contractor’s perception point out is the fact that Industrial Symbiosis will benefit the actors involved, which is aligned with the literature that states the increased knowledge as an acceleration that stipulates in an Industrial Symbiosis. It is through an Industrial Symbiosis networking that forces companies to initiate collaborations which might not have occurred had Industrial Symbiosis not been on the agenda. For instance, respondent G & I both state that the close relationship that an Industrial Symbiosis contributes to is out of importance and clear communication is key for the Industrial Symbiosis to function. The clear communication leads to full transparency and distribution of information among companies which needs to be highlighted, as it involves key stakeholders to assure their commitment and improve supply chain processes. From the contractor’s perspective, they view the establishment of Industrial Symbiosis as a project itself which needs to be initiated accordingly with clear guidelines of what is expected from each actor, which also the literature mentions (Herczeg, Akkerman, & Hauschild, 2018).

Literature continues to state that one of the main factors to a successful Industrial Symbiosis network is to identify the benefits it entails as well as institutionalizing norms to enable successful collaboration (Chertow & Ehrenfeld, 2012). For the collaboration to reach a positive outcome for the involved actors, literature in combination with the respondents analyze the weighing factor that an Industrial Symbiosis with a mixed variety of actors can contribute to. Interorganizational learning can lead to companies learning from other

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companies that are active in the Industrial Symbiosis (Barringer & Harrison, 2000). The respondents from the waste management contracting companies highlighted how important it is for them to offer education on site for construction companies in regard to waste management. This is one example of how collaboration can allocate knowledge between companies, and how an Industrial Symbiosis can be a source of mean to reach this level of interorganizational learning. The collaboration between producers and suppliers has a positive impact on the reduction in raw material utilization and waste created (Lozano et al., 2016). Cooperation is said to be dependent to reach a circular economy where Industrial Symbiosis is a sub-field of it. Not only does the networking lead to social sustainability as Dempsey (2011) states, but also to the environmental field where waste is taken advantage of in terms of resource.

It is not only the contractors who draw advantage from the education centers that waste management contractors have, it is also the suppliers who get to take part of this. As respondent F states that there has not been an interest from the supplier’s perspective in regard to contributing to more circular alternatives for construction materials, an Industrial Symbiosis where waste management contractors reach out to these suppliers in order to ensure that they work according to a certain type of standard is beneficial to them as well. Besides the institutional pressure that will aid the suppliers to adapt into a more circular business model, education is key for them to be able to find solutions and implement ideas to their processes. Industrial Symbiosis networking is an important factor for this to be able to happen, something that literature also puts an emphasis on where Barringer & Harrison (2000) mentions that the asset of new technological skills is one of the most recognized drives for companies to engage in interorganizational relationship formation.

6.1.3 Logistics and transport

The view on logistics and transport is considered to be one of the main incentives for waste management contractors to participate in Industrial Symbiosis. A collaboration would mean that a majority of construction companies come together in which the waste management contractors can take advantage of. What the contractor’s mentioned is that their work today is focused on minimizing the amount of waste management contractors and instead focus on a few that they have an intimate and close relationship to. This would mean that a handful of waste management contractors would be in charge of the logistics and transport in an

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Industrial Symbiosis. Additionally, their revenues would of course increase since they are needed in a broader scale in which the commitment to different companies is bound to a functioning network. Literature mentions the importance of having a waste management contractor that has an environmental profile and focuses on recycling. The waste management contractors were positive to the fact of having an Industrial Symbiosis where many companies come together since this could simplify their job of reducing their transportation costs. This goes well together with the research that states that costs and transaction costs are reduced in a network of this kind (Barringer & Harrison, 2000). This is especially a driving force when speaking of cross-sectoral collaborations such as using mineral wool. As Dunster (2011) mentions, the transportation costs as well as logistics is a factor that affects whether using recycled mineral wool will be less costly than raw virgin material. These are all factors that need to be taken into consideration when establishing collaborations across sectors and try to utilize the use of waste and thus turning it into a resource.

Logistically, an integration amongst different actors requires an information system where operational data is collected and stored in order for the actors to gain access to. This will mean that suppliers, contractors, waste management contractors sign contracts and agreements to minimize risks and gain trust for each other in the network (Herczeg, Akkerman, & Hauschild, 2018). Respondents E discuss how they work with contractors where they store waste data into an information system to create statistics. This information system could be used to further develop a notion where all the actors gain access to data in order to know how the waste is being managed. Respondent F continues to digest their interest in an information system from the contractor’s point of view where they visually show the building which would simplify for the waste management contractors since they would know which materials are going to landfill, recycling or reuse. This can be used as inter-organizational communication between the actors. As respondent F mentions the information system that is being used in Holland, the potential for using this in a Swedish context becomes more interesting since the technology has been proven to be available. With the existing literature as well as the response from the interviews, an encouragement of this facilitation is important since it would also simplify the development of an Industrial Symbiosis network which is dependent on a facilitation system (Paquin et al., 2012).

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6.2 Barriers to Industrial Symbiosis networking

6.2.1 Profit/Short-term vs. long-term

An essential factor for companies to consider before initiating any type of new project or system is profitability. Literature shows that companies tend to show a tremendous portion of interest in sustainability and positive environmental externalities; however, the financial profit is a must before agreeing to involve in such (Yeo et al., 2019). If the economic benefits aren’t clear, companies tend to question before changing their current ways of doing things as they typically are reluctant to change. Most private companies require relatively short-term economic returns on their investments, and this cannot be promised by the implementation of IS networks. Rather, the economic implications will only be seen over the long term, provided that the implementation is successful. This creates uncertainties for companies and may cause a hesitation to engage. However, if the aim of a company is to reach more sustainable working environments, which includes the economic aspect, an investment in ideas that generate long-term profit for them is a necessity (Crane & Matten, 2010). The dilemma that arises is the balance between a short-term profit which is not sustainable or a more long-term profit investment that leads to a more sustainable path of working.

It was clear from the interviews that like any investment the main internal motivation for companies to join these types of networks is increased profitability and competitiveness. The external motivation was the institutional pressure, which in certain ways is intertwined with the internal motivations since competitiveness cannot be achieved without following institutional agendas and requirements. However, companies will only pursue a network collaboration if they are able to see its potential to render tangible impact financially. Thus, it is out of importance that the project can demonstrate potentials not only environmentally, but also financially.

The fact that Industrial Symbiosis network is very collaborative is another factor that create uncertainties for companies regarding the balance of benefits between the stakeholders. The benefits must be clear for all partners of the symbiotic linkages and there needs to be a mutualistic dynamic within the complex. The profitability concerns are also tied to the type of contracts formed within the complex. For example, if the provided services by suppliers will mean higher prices, then contractors will be less interested. Prices within Industrial Symbiosis networks should aim to reflect market prices at highest or otherwise they are less likely to be

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sustained if the environmental benefits are perceived as too expensive. If the case would be that prices become higher, then contractors expect public bodies to help compensate for this with subsidiaries, considering the fact that the development is part of public interest.

6.2.2 The role of the coordinator

All respondents agreed that the municipality should play a role in the development of IS networks. A public body was perceived to be needed to initiate the project and was seen as a leverage point to implement symbiotic relationships. Besides providing financial incentives in the form of subsidiaries, there was also discussions about whether they should have an active role as some sort of coordinator between the companies to ensure the commitment of the parties, and potentially also an advisory part regarding environmental regulations and its probable evolution. The role as a coordinator specifically, is crucial as a way of getting everyone on board, increasing knowledge and understanding of IS and its constraints, aligning incentives, ensuring commitment while also identifying potential collaboration areas that the companies have not been able to uncover themselves.

While increasing the knowledge of IS networking by the companies, it is also important to increase the knowledge the companies have of each other’s activities and processes. This is also something that a coordinator would be needed for. Moreover, transaction costs could be reduced as the coordinator facilitates communication streams, collects and centralizes information among the companies, making the exchange of information about inputs and outputs between the companies more effective. Furthermore, companies might be more inclined to share proprietary information to the coordination agent rather than directly to other companies. This has been through literature been proven to be the function of a waste manager since they possess the information necessary to align the different actors as well as provide information regarding the waste management. The interviewees shared the same opinion and the waste management contractors had a positive outlook to coordinating. This is due to the fact that the waste management contractor is heavily involved in both the process where waste is collected but also brought to the recycling station. They have the potential of sharing communication with all parties that can gain synergies from an Industrial Symbiosis network.

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According to literature, almost all documented cases of IS networks have been generated in the presence of public support or involved public bodies such as municipalities or regional public bodies (Chertow et al., 2000). It can create much needed financial incentives when trying to shift to a system that in the short term is more expensive than conventional methods. It can also add credibility to the recruitment pitch of IS networks. However, it is important to make sure the provided financial support is not counterproductive regarding the efficiency of the linkages created. In other words, there is a limit to how long public funding can sustain an IS networks and if financial support is not thoughtfully provided there is a risk that it may support the development of linkages that are not intrinsically viable from an economic point of view, and thus will not be sustainable. Moreover, too much public support may also have a negative impact on the level of commitment from companies, as projects with strong public support can cause companies to take less responsibility.

It can be concluded that public involvement is a key factor for driving the development of IS networks by partnering with private companies, having a close contact between public bodies, other coordinators of the network and the involved private companies. However, there are both benefits and drawbacks that are important to consider when deciding on the level of involvement from third parties. As for the coordination, what is interesting is that the contractors have a vast amount of waste management contractors, meaning that in order for an Industrial Symbiosis to function there needs to be a high level of collaboration between the waste management contractors. In the case of mineral wool, this might create a challenge since the recycling company had ordered contractors to solely hire one waste management contractor who they had a direct contact with, this might hinder the work of recycling with projects of the contractor where they have different waste management contractors that they already have signed with.

6.2.3 Uncertainty/Digital facilitation

The dynamics of business relationships in Industrial Symbiosis networks are complex and require an information infrastructure that is able to support these dynamics. Most respondents agreed that there exist uncertainties regarding trust between participants and that the existence of competitive attitudes may complicate for cooperation. One of the major challenges regarding the sustainability of Industrial Symbiosis networks is to integrate sustainable technologies and balance the dynamics of sustaining economic incentives while building trust

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within the collaboration. Indeed, trust and consistent information are important enablers of strategic alliance in collaborative supply networks. Many analyzed cases in previous literature have shown that companies within Industrial Symbiosis networks, driven by profitability and resource scarcity as well as institutional pressures from governmental regulations, are able to deliver innovative solutions in terms of non-hazardous waste utilization. Yet, the integration of sustainable technologies in strategic project definitions and the engagement of companies in long-term partnerships are great challenges for IS (Herczeg, Akkerman, & Hauschild, 2018).

One respondent in particular, head of sustainability development in Stockholm municipality, argued that we need to be able to use technology that help increase transparency among companies, referring to multiple ICT-tools. This is further backed by literature where it is concluded that transparency should increase trust between the members of the network while also reducing unethical (or illegal) behavior, as well as reducing the transaction costs for external stakeholders interested in assessing a company’s social responsibility.

Another factor that appears to cause companies to be reluctant to the idea of Industrial Symbiosis networks is the increased levels of interdependency within supplier-buyer relationships and consequently also increased vulnerability. Moreover, newly introduced interdependencies could imply technical challenges relating to the quantity and quality of waste flows. This was brought up as a concern by multiple respondents especially regarding how it could disrupt existing supply-chain agreements. Furthermore, fluctuations in material flows can make it difficult for downstream firms to predicts variations in the material components of upstream firms. Complications may arise when trying to respond in a timely manner to ruptures in the industrial chain, changes in operation processes, or risks associated with product quality (Li et al., 2016). Credibility and reputation as a stable partner for symbiosis would attract more opportunities and increase the chances of successful implementation.

6.3 Tentative Model

Based on the literature review, the theoretical framework as well as the collected data from the interviews, a tentative model can be illustrated which shows the dependencies each organization has in the development of an Industrial Symbiosis network. Yeo et al. (2019)

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presents a summary table which demonstrates the different steps the development of an Industrial Symbiosis network has. It is out of importance to realize that a close collaboration between each actor is relevant in the beginning stages where a preliminary assessment of the potential that an Industrial Symbiosis has as well as engaging the businesses into trusting bonds. Following Chertow & Ehrenfeld (2012, an establishment of the benefits each actor gains from an Industrial Symbiosis is also important. This is what the respondents in the study furtherly shed light on, which makes it essential for gatherings in the early stages where discussions regarding the profits is important.

In the following stages, the collaboration becomes more dependent on the coordinator and their communication with the actors involved. Before illustrating a final model, a summary below is presented in a table which reflects the responsibilities each actor has (see table 2). The interaction between the supplier and contractor is heavily emphasized in literature as well as in the interviews, where a re-take system was brought to the surface from respondents F, G, H and I. A collaboration form would include this as a solution where the supplier can re-gain their material that turns into waste at a construction site and can be then transported to another process where the waste of mineral wool can be used.

Table 2 - A table explaining each necessary actor in the Industrial Symbiosis network and what their responsibilities are and who their role in it affects

Actor Responsibilities/Activities Who does it affect?

Government Initiator and is expected to add The whole supply chain institutional pressure on the different actors Client Since the client is responsible for Contractor providing demands to their contractor, it is their job to ensure that the contractor is being given incentives to work towards Industrial Symbiosis.

Municipality Since the municipality can also be a The whole supply chain client for public projects, they are deemed responsible for bringing

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attention to the demands that are established in an Industrial Symbiosis by implementing these demands in the public procurement process where contractors are therefore forced into bringing these into their bids.

Municipality is also responsible for bringing together a plan of action towards Industrial Symbiosis according to the regulations that the government installs that the different actors can work towards.

Contractor The contractor is responsible for Waste Management choosing a supplier which is willing to Contractor, Supplier, work within the Industrial Symbiosis Recycling company & network, where their material can be Other sectors recycled as well using recycled material. Furthermore, the contractor also has an important function of enabling collaboration with other companies where material can be re-used and recycled into, this involves a close work with the waste management contractor. Waste The waste management contractor has an Contractor, Supplier, Management important role in being the coordinator of Recycling Company & Contractor the Industrial Symbiosis network, with a Other Sectors lot of responsibilities in terms of communication with all actors and ensuring that the collaboration and recycling is functioning at its best. They also have a responsibility of providing

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education centers for contractors in order for the work on-site to be improved and constantly push the agenda towards a more circular building. Supplier of The supplier of mineral wool needs to Waste Management Mineral Wool heavily think of ways to ensure that their Contractor & Recycling material is well incorporated with the Company recycling process that the recycling companies have. What both literature and respondents agreed upon is the fact that the supplier and recycling company need to have a close collaboration since it is their materials that show potential for beneficial synergies. Recycling The recycling company is responsible for Waste Management Company providing the technology required in Contractor order for mineral wool to be recycled. Other sectors Other sectors may need to be involved Contractor & Waste that use mineral such as the manufacturer of indoor Management Contractor wool waste ceiling tiles where they can use the by- products of mineral wool in their production. In that way, some of the material that the recycling company cannot receive and re-process, will go into another process. Therefore, it is important for both the contractor as well as supplier and waste management contractor to have a big pool of network with companies that can gain synergies from the waste product of mineral wool.

The final model is supposed to give an insight into the levels of collaboration that each actor has once the Industrial Symbiosis network has been established (see figure 10). The communication that is being provided by each actor is illustrated in the image below, where it

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is visible to see that the public body as well as the waste management contractor have key parts in the functioning of an Industrial Symbiosis network. Furthermore, it is important for communication to be downstreamed from the client and the contractor since they are important links in the work between the initiation of the Industrial Symbiosis network from the public body and the coordination of the Industrial Symbiosis network from the waste management contractor.

Working throughout the whole supply chain and gathering everyone’s perspective is seen to be important since it takes the dedication and work of each actor in order for the Industrial Symbiosis to function successfully. The theoretical framework of supply chain management emphazises the importance of viewing the supply chain as a single entity where partnerships and collaboration between actors will improve the management of the whole chain (Mentzer et al., 2001). Although theory does not include the waste management contractor as an essential key partner in a supply chain network, when Industrial Symbiosis is present their role becomes crucial to the functionality of the supply chain management.

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Government - Expected to add Institutional Pressure

Municipality - Formalize a Private clients - Demands plan on a local initiative on that arise due to regluations how Industrial Symbiosis is that are being supposed to function as well communicated to the as fund it contractor

Contractor - Ensure that the demands are being communicated to the material supplier and the choices in material reflects the ambitions of a good waste management

Waste Management Contractor - Material supplier - Contact Coordinator, meaning they have a with the waste management big responsability in maintaining contractor and contractor in communication between the order to make smart stakeholders and that the waste is being handled in a way that decisions with the material Industrial Symbiosis is enhanced

Other sectors - For instance indoor ceiling tiles companies Recycling Company - that can gain advantage of the Ensures the technology waste product of mineral wool, required to make Industrial they need to have a close Symbiosis function collaboration with all parties.

Figure 8 - The final model showing how the communication and responsibility is illustrated and streamed throughout the network that an Industrial Symbiosis entail

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7 Conclusion

This section will sum the findings and analysis as well as the author’s own conclusion of the study which will answer the research questions from the introduction. Ultimately a discussion regarding the limitations and suggestion for future studies is presented

The results from this study has shown clear results that are well aligned with the literature that has been conducted within this field. The gap that this thesis is attempting to fill is the lack of study on potentials for Industrial Symbiosis collaborations in the construction sector in a Swedish context which there has been shown results of. It can be concluded that a collaboration between the actors involved in construction will make up the foundation of an Industrial Symbiosis network which is a step in the right direction in order to move a whole sector towards circular economy and an increased sustainability. The Industrial Symbiosis in construction projects is dependent on the cooperation between the actors that are involved in other manufacturing sectors such as indoor ceiling tiles. By integrating these sectors, it is possible to see potentials for positive synergetic effects that can arise due to a successfully implemented Industrial Symbiosis network.

What the interviews have shown is that there needs to be a clear distribution of responsibility for the different actors involved and different steps in order for Industrial Symbiosis to be implemented. In order for the Industrial Symbiosis network to be successful it is important to break down the tasks that each actor has, which both literature as well as the respondents of the interviews mentioned is important. If there is not a clear path to work with, there will be misunderstandings as well as uncertainty related to the Industrial Symbiosis, which ultimately will lead to a not so successful implementation. Therefore, this thesis has presented a list of things necessary to establish, from the perspective of each actor:

1. Decide on the benefits that each participant organization will receive from engaging in an Industrial Symbiosis to visualize the profit they will make 2. Decide the role of each actor, which includes who the coordinator should be as well as how the information should be communicated to each actor 3. Find the synergetic opportunities that exist and the linkages among businesses 4. Establish and engage businesses to network together in order to create trust and even share knowledge which is a foundation for interorganizational learning

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5. Decide which digital tool shall be used in order for the Industrial Symbiosis to be implemented

Furthermore, the roles of each actor were decided within the specific chosen context. The public body will have an initiating role where funding and regulations are on their agenda. It is up to the municipality to implement a local plan which focuses on the implementation of Industrial Symbiosis, whereas the client is responsible for ensuring that the demands of recycling is provided down the supply chain to the contractor. The contractor has an important link to the supplier, waste management contractor as well as other sectors in order to find solutions for the waste. The waste management contractor has the role of a coordinator where they constitute a flow between different construction projects that many contractors and construction companies are under works with and ensure that the waste is being brought to a recycling station. In the recycling station, the mineral wool that has been collected is re- processed into mineral wool and an alternative is to allow the waste management contractor to transport the mineral wool waste to another sector which can use the waste into their process and hence, gain synergetic effects. Concluding, the image below explains the inter- connectivity between the different actors and how they rely on each other in order to make Industrial Symbiosis function in practice:

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Material

Figure 9 - An image explaining the dependency that each actor has towards each other in an Industrial Symbiosis network 7.1 Reliability and Validity

Due to the nature of this study, a generalizability was not the aim; however, an analytical generalizability was of importance where one can analyze the outcome of the results and apply it in other fields. The study investigated the perceptions of key actors regarding the potential implementation of Industrial Symbiosis with focus on the supply chain of one material. The data collected was ensured to have a high validity by comparing the results to the literature review that was conducted beforehand. With the analysis made (see chapter 6), it is clear that the results had a high validity since it did not show results that were odd nor strange. Many discussions were able to be made with the results that was collected from the respondents.

However, a higher generalizability could have been achieved had there been more interviews with contractors of different sort. This study was conducted in collaboration with a contracting company which had an interest in this field, therefore interviews with other respondents from other construction companies would have added great value. This is mostly

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in regard to suppliers as well as project managers that were out on-site. With their input, the thesis would have had a richer information that could be used to further analyze and discuss.

7.2 Limitations and Future studies

This thesis was completed with different restrictions, such as geographical area, Stockholm, as well as one industry, the construction sector. Moreover, the specific material that was further investigated was restricted to mineral wool. The boundaries of this work were also mainly defined by a time constraint of 5 months, as well as the development of the pandemic COVID-19. This affected the scope of the research both in terms of the qualitative material that was collected and consequently also the depth of the analysis. One idea for this thesis was to follow through with a case study, which involved an established Industrial Symbiosis, but due to the development of COVID-19, it was hard to come into contact with multiple actors which would grant us useful information. A case study of a specific Industrial Symbiosis network would make it easier to measure success factors and investigate how this would be applicable in the construction sector. An analysis would provide great value since one would be able to see where the construction industry lacks interest.

Furthermore, an investigation could be done regarding the need to re-use instead of recycling as this study had a focus on. The compliment of re-usage of material in an Industrial Symbiosis network would be interesting, especially since many of the respondents brought up re-use and how they want to further work with it within their business models. Additionally, one can choose another material such as concrete, which has many sub-materials that can be used in the manufacturing process. This makes it interesting to investigate and interview other respondents from other sectors in which their materials can be used in the process of concrete, which could lead to synergetic effects.

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Appendix

Appendix A – Interviewee Recycling Company

1. What is your role? 2. How long have you been working on your role and in the construction sector? 3. What does the process of recycling of mineral wool look like? 4. How do you ensure the quality of the material you recycle? 5. What does your collaboration with the construction contractor look like? 6. Do you take care of the transportation of the material or is it the construction contractor? 7. What requirements do you have for building contractors? What requirements do construction contractors have on you? 8. What are the financial incentives for recycling? 9. How do you view a network of several construction contractors as well as other sectors working with you as a waste contractor to create circular flows of mineral wool? 10. What are the obstacles and driving forces for such network system? 11. How do you view the demands that are likely to be placed on construction contractors, which in turn affect your work, the more society moves towards a more sustainable direction?

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Appendix B – Interviewee Municipality

1. What is your role? 2. How long have you been working on your role? 3. How was the decision made in developing these building and waste requirements? 4. Who would you say is most responsible for meeting these requirements? 5. Will these requirements apply to the entire real estate and construction sector or only to projects in which Stockholm City's real estate company is the client? 6. What is your view on a network of several actors such as building contractors, suppliers, real estate owners and other sectors in order to create circular flows of mineral wool? 7. How do you think such a collaborative network could be built? 8. What would the role of the municipality look like in such a network? Coordinator? Investor? 9. What requirements can the municipality have on other actors? 10. Can regulations be implemented to ensure that such a network occurs? 11. What are the obstacles and driving forces of such network? 12. Do you believe that the construction industry itself can take responsibility or should the municipality or government invest in such a network?

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Appendix C - Interviewee Waste Management Contractor

1. What is your role? 2. How long have you worked with your role and within the industry? 3. How do you as a waste management contractor work today with recycling of building materials? 4. Have you previously had any collaboration with various contractors where you handled usable waste from building materials? 5. In your opinion, would it be possible to expand your business so that you act as an intermediary between other sectors as well and handle usable building waste issues building materials? 6. What incentives do you consider to be most important in order to make it possible to recycle construction materials through collaboration? 7. How do you think such a collaborative network could be built? 8. What are the opportunities and challenges that you can see with such a business? 9. If several entrepreneurs join in this, how can you plan for it to be most time efficient? 10. Can several projects make it easier for you in terms of transport and logistics? 11. As a final question, what building materials do you think it would work to recycle between different construction contractors?

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Appendix D – Interviewee Contractor

1. What is your role? 2. How long have you been working on your role and in the construction sector? 3. How do you work in general with waste management and recycling of building materials? 4. What does the process and business model look like for recycling? 5. Do you have any specific work on how to increase resource efficiency by increasing the recycling of waste material? 6. Where are there, as you can see, opportunities and challenges in increasing the recycling of building materials? What material? 7. You had a collaboration with a recycling company for mineral wool in a recent project, how did it work? 8. Could it be applicable to all projects? Or what are the conditions for different projects? 9. What incentives do you consider to be most important in order to make it possible to recycle building materials through collaboration? 10. Would you like to imagine a recycling network for recycling with other contractors? 11. Possible to include other sectors that could draw benefit from the material in question, mineral wool? 12. How do you think such a collaborative network could be built? 13. What are the obstacles and driving forces of such network? 14. As a closing question, which building materials would you say works best to recycle between different construction contractors?

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1. What is your role? 2. How long have you been working on your role and in the construction sector? 3. How do you work in general with waste management and recycling of building materials? 4. What does the process and business model look like focusing on recycling? 5. Do you have any specific work on how to increase resource efficiency by increasing the recycling of waste material? 6. Where are there, as you can see, opportunities and challenges in increasing the recycling of building materials? What material? 7. What requirements do you have for building contractors? What requirements do construction contractors have on you? 8. What are the financial incentives for recycling? 9. How do you view a network of several construction contractors as well as other sectors working with you as a supplier to create circular flows of mineral wool? 10. What are the obstacles and driving forces for such network system? 11. How do you view the demands that are likely to be placed on construction contractors, which in turn affect your work, the more society moves towards a more sustainable direction?

70 TRITA-ABE-MBT-20528

www.kth.se

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