INDUSTRIAL SYMBIOSIS IN GREECE: A STUDY OF SPATIAL ALLOCATION PATTERNS

Research conducted in recent years shows that the recycling of certain waste products through multilevel Eco-Industrial Networks has potential physical, spatial, economic and environmental conditions and limits that restrict its potential applications. This paper explores these limits on the spatial level. This paper analyses case studies of industrial symbiosis in the Greek industry that were previously identified and documented. It identifies and documents 455 case studies of industrial symbiosis in 16 Eco-Industrial Networks. A total of 45 waste types were identified and documented. Wastes are separated into 7 categories according to their physical characteristics and the industry sector from which they originated, namely: thermal energy, fuels, metals, plastics, chemicals, minerals and organics, as described by. The spatial scale of waste exchange includes the following levels: Industrial Park (IP), Local (LOC), Regional (REG), National (NAT) and Global (GLO). The paper concludes that industrial symbiosis does indeed have spatial conditions and limits that restrict its potential applications. Specifically, the spatial scale at which Eco-Industrial Networks are developed, in addition to the "general" spatial-economic, spatial-social, and environmental factors that affect the location of industry, is also influenced by several "specific" factors. Therefore, the development of an Eco-Industrial Network on a specific spatial scale, for example regional, is possible only when considering these factors. The same applies to the case of development of an Eco-Industrial Network at the lowest level of spatial scale, namely the development of an Eco-Industrial Park.