Exploring mechanisms for mobilising industrial sustainability models across different industrial locations

Industrial symbiosis is a model of sustainability which suggests that agglomerations of industries can achieve considerable environmental benefits by engaging in inter-organisational waste recycling, energy cascading and water recovery. This article considers how such a complex inter-organisational model for environmental management can be mobilised across different industrial localities. It is suggested that companies engaged in industrial symbiosis activities at one production locality may be more inclined to engage in symbiotic activities when entering a new production locality. The industrial symbiosis model may in this way be mobilised across industrial localities as part of the global corporate search for marked access and cost reductions. This suggestion is supported by an illustrative case study shedding some light on the mechanisms for mobilising sustainability models across localities.