Although relatively under-studied, industrial symbiosis may be a particularly valuable type of interfirm action for creating value under economic constraints, such as increased environmental regulations, because it involves firms collaborating to find economical ways to ``do more with less{''}, by taking wastes and excess resources from one firm and processing them into valuable inputs for another. To better understand its value-creating potential, we analyzed firm- and policy-level environmental and economic outcomes for 313 industrial symbiosis exchanges across the United Kingdom, during a period of increasing environmental taxation and regulation. We found that, 1) exchanges involving larger volumes of material resources are more likely to create firm- and policy-level value; 2) firms with prior industrial symbiosis experience are more likely to create firm-level value; and, 3) exchanges involving dedicated waste firms are more likely to create policy-level value, although somewhat less likely to create firm-level value. Extending prior work on intra-firm action research, we show how firms can also create value through interfirm industrial symbiosis collaborations in response to regulatory constraints. We develop a deeper understanding of the types of outcomes likely to occur from industrial symbiosis exchanges, and detail firm- and policy-level implications and questions for future research.
Although relatively under-studied, industrial symbiosis may be a particularly valuable type of interfirm action for creating value under economic constraints, such as increased environmental regulations, because it involves firms collaborating to find economical ways to ``do more with less{''}, by taking wastes and excess resources from one firm and processing them into valuable inputs for another. To better understand its value-creating potential, we analyzed firm- and policy-level environmental and economic outcomes for 313 industrial symbiosis exchanges across the United Kingdom, during a period of increasing environmental taxation and regulation. We found that, 1) exchanges involving larger volumes of material resources are more likely to create firm- and policy-level value; 2) firms with prior industrial symbiosis experience are more likely to create firm-level value; and, 3) exchanges involving dedicated waste firms are more likely to create policy-level value, although somewhat less likely to create firm-level value. Extending prior work on intra-firm action research, we show how firms can also create value through interfirm industrial symbiosis collaborations in response to regulatory constraints. We develop a deeper understanding of the types of outcomes likely to occur from industrial symbiosis exchanges, and detail firm- and policy-level implications and questions for future research.