The potential of Industrial Ecology in agri-food clusters (AFCs): A case study based on valorisation of auxiliary materials

Simboli, Alberto; Taddeo, Raffaella; Morgante, Anna

doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2015.01.005

Cited by 45 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Data were obtained through public documents made available by the regional administrations. Empirical evidence emerging from recent studies conducted by the authors on the potential of IS development [13,[20][21][22] was also used. The study applied the systemic approach of sustainability science and IE, encompassing a comprehensive analysis to the identification of potential areas for the theoretical, methodological and practical advancements of IS studies.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Italian territory is used as a source of regulatory and technical data on the IP model, which has found in this country a rapid and wide diffusion. The results of the study will contribute to exploring new spaces and possibilities for the development of IS in existing contexts, an area of research in which the authors have been involved for years, and they have conducted research on various forms of territorial agglomerations of companies, including clusters [13], local supply network [20], districts [21], and ecologically equipped industrial areas [22]. The article is structured as follows: the next sections outline the research methods used, and then the current spaces for innovation and networking within the IS studies is described in order to explain why these variables are considered relevant.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Industrial Symbiosis, Networking and Innovation: The Potential Role of Innovation Poles

2017

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In the literature, there is much debate on how to make Industrial Symbiosis (IS) successful and on the factors that may potentially affect its implementation, including networking and innovation. They have so far found limited space for investigation in favor of other technical and economic aspects, such as the nature of the processes involved, regulatory issues, economic feasibility, and stakeholders involvement. However, in some cases, they may become relevant, especially when considered together and in their synergistic interaction. An interesting context to be considered in this respect is that of the Innovation Poles (IPs), which are government-sponsored consortia, created within EU programs with the objective of stimulating innovation within network of organizations and that promote the competitiveness in specific industries or value-chains at a local or regional level. In the present article, we firstly discuss how these topics have been so far addressed in IS studies, and then we analyze the main features of the IP model with the aim to understand if, and through which mechanisms, it can contribute to the development and spread of IS. A literature overview through desktop analysis and direct research, which particularly focused on the Italian IPs, provided the knowledge basis of the study. The results highlight the positive role that the IP model could play, both for its institutional activity of production and dissemination of knowledge and innovation, and, mostly, if considered as an applicative context for IS.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Industrial Symbiosis, Networking and Innovation: The Potential Role of Innovation Poles

2017

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“…Despite the natural and acquired tendency to develop forms of territorial agglomeration of companies, there are still no examples of operating EIPs in Italy. The main criticalities that emerged in this regard also in previous studies of the author (Taddeo et al, 2012;Simboli et al, 2014Simboli et al, , 2015 are summarised below:…”

Section: The Development Of Eips In Local Industrial Systemsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Local industrial systems towards the eco-industrial parks: the model of the ecologically equipped industrial areas

Taddeo

2016

Journal of Cleaner Production

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“…To such purpose, LCA can be applied with different aims, for example to (Mattila et al, 2012): assess the benefits of realising IE applications (e.g. Chiusano et al, 2015;San Martin et al, 2016;Simboli et al, 2015); assess existing IE applications to improve them (e.g. Contreras et al, 2009); communicate to third party the performance of IE systems (e.g.…”

Section: Recovery Of Food Loss In Industrial Ecology Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling of food loss within life cycle assessment: From current practice towards a systematisation

Corrado

Ardente

Sala

et al. 2017

Journal of Cleaner Production

128

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a b s t r a c tFood loss is a major concern from both environmental and social point of view. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been largely applied to quantify the environmental impact of food and to identify pros and cons of different options for optimisation of food systems management, including the recovery of potential waste occurring along the supply chain. However, within LCA case studies, there is still a general lack of proper accounting of food losses. A discrepancy both in food loss definition and in the approaches adopted to model the environmental burden of food loss has been observed. These aspects can lead to misleading and, sometimes, contrasting results, limiting the reliability of LCA as a decision support tool for assessing food production systems. This article aims, firstly, at providing a preliminary analysis on how the modelling of food loss has been conducted so far in LCA studies. Secondly, it suggests a definition for food loss to be adopted. Finally, the article investigates the consequence of using such definition and it proposes potential paths for the development of a common methodological framework to increase the robustness and comparability of the LCA studies. It discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the different approaches adopted to account for food loss along the food supply chain: primary production, transport and storage, food processing, distribution, consumption and end of life. It is also proposed to account separately between avoidable, possibly avoidable and unavoidable food loss by means of specific indicators. Finally, some recommendations for LCA practitioners are provided on how to deal with food loss in LCA studies focused on food products. The most relevant recommendations concern: i) the systematic accounting of food loss generated along the food supply chain; ii) the modelling of waste treatments according to the specific characteristics of food; iii) the sensitivity analysis on the modelling approaches adopted to model multi-functionality; and iv) the need of transparency in describing the modelling of food loss generation and management.

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The potential of Industrial Ecology in agri-food clusters (AFCs): A case study based on valorisation of auxiliary materials

Cited by 45 publications

References 40 publications

Industrial Symbiosis, Networking and Innovation: The Potential Role of Innovation Poles

Industrial Symbiosis, Networking and Innovation: The Potential Role of Innovation Poles

Local industrial systems towards the eco-industrial parks: the model of the ecologically equipped industrial areas

Modelling of food loss within life cycle assessment: From current practice towards a systematisation

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