Abstract

Within industrial ecology (IE), Industrial Symbiosis (IS) has captured the attention of scholars, planners and industrial actors as a new path towards achieving more sustainable industrial systems. The rationale behind IS networks is the building of collaborative webs of material and energy exchanges among different production units, so that the waste materials from one process could feed the input requirements of another process, reducing the overall use of virgin raw materials and minimising waste flows. This paper critically examines the contribution of IS networks in Sustainable Development and the role that discourse plays in the actual scope and outcomes of industrial symbiosis networks. In the paper the authors analyse the potential of discourse analysis to understand the process of formation and development of IS networks. A protocol for the application of discourse analysis to IS is proposed. The role of IS networks in moving towards more sustainable paths of industrial development is discussed and the limitations and contradictions of the process unveiled.