Resource reuse and recycling in an Indian industrial network: efficiency and flexibility considerations

The recovery, reuse and recycling of waste materials is critical in locations where resources are limited, in order to extract maximum embodied value from those materials. The Indian context, as exemplified in this case study of the Nanjangud Industrial Area (NIA), displays diverse options for materials cycling. The three most important are through 1) in facility reuse and recycling, 2) market-based recycling via complex networks of informal scrap dealers and reprocessors and 3) direct reuse between pairs of manufacturers (industrial symbiosis). This study combines material flow analysis with network analysis to examine patterns in the cycling of industrial process residuals via these three routes. It examines the efficiency of materials cycling in the study site, and compares the advantages and disadvantages of these arrangements.