Many examples of symbiosis processes studied within the context of industrial research could be applied in Italian productive system, so as to make related environmental improvement an attractive process for industrial stakeholders. By now, Industrial Symbiosis is not systematically applied because of some difficulties mainly related to regulations and to a culture of collaboration (among companies, and between companies and industrial research world) that must still be further developed. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the existing opportunities in the Emilia-Romagna territory and to analyze in terms of methodology and results some useful experiences and realized and ongoing projects in this area for the development of the regional system, intended to apply Industrial Symbiosis and to spread a circular economy approach. Pilot projects, undertaken or in progress in Emilia-Romagna region, are described and analyzed in terms of methodology and results. They aim to study the potential for the application of circular economy by closing production cycles The regulatory framework at national and regional level is analyzed in order to identify critical points and obstacles to the diffusion of Industrial Symbiosis practices. The paper analysis method also includes the evaluation of the opportunities resulting from European funding programmes and from national strategies related to the new European Cohesion Policy. The results of this study, based at different levels of analysis (background experiences, regulatory framework and strategic opportunities) are territorial guidelines, useful for Emilia-Romagna institutions to approach Industrial Symbiosis methodology. This method has been also suggested within the waste plan of Emilia-Romagna Region as interesting and ''useful to the reduction of industrial waste quantity''. As a conclusion, symbiosis has been proved to be a quite effective tool to create new economic growth opportunities: regional and national policies, together with technical experts and entrepreneurs, must work towards the completion of cycles within the production system, in order to foster circular economy. It is needed an effort by all actors of the process (especially institutions) in order to overcome regulatory and cultural issues.

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The Project "Green-Industrial Symbiosis" (G-IS), in Emilia Romagna region (IT), took place in two phases: phase I, 05.2013-03.2014; phase II, 10. 2014-10.2015. During the first phase, it was completed the first part of the pilot project of industrial symbiosis (IS) in Emilia-Romagna, which involved 13 companies in the agro-industrial sector, 7 laboratories of the High Technology Network, with Unioncamere and Aster (promoters) and ENEA (technical and scientific coordinator). The first phase generated 90 potential synergies among the 10 companies that shared their input-output resources. During the second phase, promoted by ASTER and organized with the technical and scientific coordination of ENEA, some of the most interesting synergies of the first phase were selected, in order to go from the identification of potential synergies to its actual implementation. In particular, 3 pathways of industrial symbiosis were chosen, in which waste food industry outputs were destined to three different types of exploitation (production of biopolymers, nutraceuticals, energy recovery). The pathway that a resource must take to shift from being a company's output to another company's input, involves several steps that require compliance and verification of regulatory, technical, logistical and economic issues. All these factors have been examined and reported in 3 Operative Manuals for the companies involved, each one arranged for a different symbiosis' pathway. The manuals consist of two sections: an operative and a documental part (technical dossier). The operative part describes the transformation path of resources, with a layout in which each block and intermediate vector represent a passage of the resource (e.g. exit from the producing company, transport, valorisation). Under the layout, a synthesis table refers, for each stage, to the necessary requirements, reported in full in the technical dossier. Links on the synthesis table refer, for example, to laws or techniques that the specific flow, in each step, must comply with. These links also define, with a predefined color, if that aspect can be considered as an obstacle to the progress of the symbiosis.