Expanding roles for the Swedish waste management sector in interorganizational resource management

• Several waste management (WM) professionals see an ongoing shift in the focus of the industry, from that of atransport and treatment sector to that of a more integrated sustainable service provision and material productionsector. To further develop such transitional ambitions, WM organizations are increasingly looking toward interorganizationalresource network concepts (such as the circular economy and industrial symbiosis) as models ofhow they would like to create new value together with their customers and partners.This article aims to take a step in addressing uncertainties behind such transitions by analyzing barriers forinter-organizational resource management and in turn uncovering some potential opportunities and risks ofnovel offerings from the WM sector. Obstacles for developing innovative inter-organizational resource networkshave been identified based on studies of implementing industrial symbiosis networks. Subsequently, managingexecutives from Swedish private and public WM organizations were interviewed regarding the sector’s capacityto overcome such barriers – opportunities and risks of providing new resource management services – and howtheir organizations might approach the role of actively facilitating more resource efficient regions.Eco-Industrial park management and contracting out holistic resource management are some areas in whichthe respondents see WM organizations offering new services. In relation to such approaches, various risks (e.g.being cut out of investment benefits, or unstable supply) and opportunities (e.g. new markets and enhancedsustainability profiles) were identified. Additionally, it was seen that WM companies would need to makesubstantial changes to their business approach, becoming less dependent on flows of mixed materials forexample, if they are to become even more central value chain actors. To strengthen such approaches, it was seenthat the sector will need to find methods to strategically build strong, long term partnerships, expand upon andtake advantage of available knowledge resources (i.e. best practice technologies and regional material flows),and explore new business models (i.e. stockpiling, park management, or waste minimization). Additionally,working with sector representatives to argue for a more balanced market conditions next to primary productionshould assist the viability of new offerings in the wider market.

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Naturresursteknik -- Miljöledning (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Environmental Engineering -- Environmental Management (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Circular economy

Industrial symbiosis

Recycling

Business development

Green innovation

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)