Analysing the development of Industrial Symbiosis in a motorcycle local industrial network: the role of contextual factors

Drawing on the principles of Industrial Ecology, Industrial Symbiosis (IS) engages communities of co-located companies in a cooperative management of material and energy flows. IS includes the tools and applied solutions to reduce inefficiencies and promote the eco-innovation of entire production systems. Contextual factors may affect both the nature of the synergistic solutions that characterise the IS and its potential implementation. If the beginnings of IS are pre-existing organisational relationships, such as industrial networks or clusters, further mechanisms, related to the dynamics of change within the systems, should be taken into account. The article analyses these issues in a local industrial network, through a case study based on a large firm and 18 small medium enterprises (SMEs) working in the motorcycle industry. The analytical model considers the factors that may affect the development of IS. The results indicate the potentials of IS in such a specific context; they also highlight that SMEs provide the technological and organisational basis that enable a step-by-step implementation of the proposed solutions.