Value creation in eco-industrial clusters

Abstract

Sustainability is generally seen as a social undertaking for greater social and environmental good. However, sustainability as a business model can be utilized through form of industrial symbiosis and industrial ecology by clustering together activities that utilize the waste flows of each other, in order to create added value. Due to this a research gap exists in the merits of eco-industrial clustering in the sense of not only environmental, but also financial sustainability.

Using case studies of companies in the field of greenhouse farming, fish farming, waste and energy management, the paper seeks to define a concept where actors from this field can co-exist in a symbiotic structure, creating and adding value to their activities in an eco-industrial cluster. The paper seeks to understand what is needed in order to create a profitable and sustainable eco-industrial cluster with aquaponics operations in its center.

The process requires extensive planning, governing, mindsets, investments and key actors, of which most important are energy providers and the core operations of aquaponics. The clustering adds value to each actors operation through cost savings, joint investments, shared infrastructure and perceived value through sustainable image of a product and company. The challenges involved are increased costs of investment, extensive planning, creating an efficient system and avoiding bottlenecks within a system, which can cascade on to other actors, hindering their operations.