PROJECT OF INDUSTRIAL SYMBIOSIS

The Town Councils of La Bisbal d'Empordà, Forallac, Cruïlles – Monells - Sant Sadurní de l'Heura, Corçà and Ullastret, within the framework of the Strategic Plan for Economic Development and Employment, and with the support of the Regional Government of Girona, have just launched an Industrial Symbiosis project for the companies located in the industrial estates of the territory.

This project aims at contributing to waste reduction, efficiency of resource use, cooperation among companies and the improvement of their competitiveness through circular business models.

The project identifies those companies that generate a high volume of waste in order to enable these waste streams or by-products to be transformed in secondary raw materials for other companies of the territory.

The Circular Economy entails gradually decoupling economic activity from the consumption of finite resources, and designing waste out of the system. The Circular Economy is based on three principles: design out waste and pollution, keep products and materials in use, and regenerate natural systems. It represents a systemic shift that generates business and economic opportunities, and provides environmental and societal benefits.

The Industrial symbiosis is a tool of the circular economy applied to an industrial environment. The principle behind industrial symbiosis is quite logical: instead of being thrown away or destroyed, surplus resources (materials, water supplies, energy streams, space…) generated by an industrial process are captured and then redirected for use as a ‘new’ input into another process by one or more other companies, providing a mutual benefit or symbiosis. This creates business opportunities, reduces demands on resources, and provides a stepping-stone towards creating a circular economy.

The “Sectorial Diagnosis. Industrial Symbiosis. Ei! Emprodà" project includes the identification and elaboration of a map of resources that encompasses 130 companies located in the 8 industrial estates of the different municipalities that are part of the Strategic Plan, as well as a more detailed analysis regarding potential synergies among 15 selected companies.

This initiative is developed within the framework of the Strategic Local Development Plan of the municipalities of La Bisbal d'Empordà, Forallac, Cruïlles, Monells and Sant Sadurní de l'Heura, Corçà and Ullastret, to give support to the their entrepreneurial and industrial networks. This project is being subsidized by the Employment Service of Catalonia within the framework of the programs of support to the local development and it is co-financed by the Spanish Ministry of Labor, Migration and Social Security. The project has also the support of the Regional Government of Girona.