Potential of Industrial Symbiosis in Emerging Clusters: A Case Study of Hassia, Syria

Sustainable development goals (SDGs) aim to create a sustainable future, and industrial symbiosis is a critical pathway towards sustainably. Industrial symbiosis involves the exchange and utilization of waste materials, energy, and water across industries, enhancing resource efficiency and promoting a circular economy. Industrial symbiosis may provide a lot of benefits for industrial clusters including increasing profitability and competiveness through reducing the cost of raw materials. This would help eliminate environmental problems and, hence, promote sustainability. However, the investigation of industrial interdependence in Syria faces significant challenges, including a lack of prior studies, bureaucratic obstacles, and limited documentation of input and output flows. This study proposes solutions to enhance industrial symbiosis in the industrial city of Hassia, Syria, utilizing insights from previous studies in other countries. The findings reveal a dearth of evidence for industrial symbiosis practices, with limited efforts focusing on the sale of by-products. Currently, Hassia Industrial Cluster shows limited industrial symbiosis (IS). It mainly involves partial water recycling to optimize resources and selling by-products to reduce waste and support a circular economy. Some by-products are also used in other production processes. However, the cluster lacks procedures for energy recovery, needing further exploration. Through the implementation of the proposed solutions, substantial recovery of cooling and heating capacity, as well as the utilization of by-products in the cement, concrete, and ceramics industries were achieved. The importance of industrial diversification within the industrial city was also highlighted, as it may contribute towards a crucial role in optimizing the potential for industrial symbiosis in Hassia and other industrial cities in the region.