| Summary: | The concept of industrial symbiosis aspires to increase regional resource efficiency by correlating traditionally separate industrial corporation towards a common goal regarding economic benefits and reduced environmental influence. The aim of this study was to determine the potential to industrial symbiosis within communities along the coast of northern Sweden, evaluating the possibility to increase the regional resource efficiency. Initially, eleven communities were evaluated regarding two validated indicators, industrial diversity and economic yield. Two considered communities, Umeå and Örnsköldsvik acquired the most promising values and were hence selected to be included further in the study. In order to evaluate the potential to industrial symbiosis, information regarding the industrial material and energy flows associated with the two were retrieved and analyzed. Additionally, the aggregated industries were categorized by national and European industrial classification codes, which enabled an analogy with already implemented, international synergies in the same industrial fields. Ultimately, 31 potential synergies could be charted within and between the studied communities. Örnsköldsvik exhibited a more superior potential to industrial symbiosis than Umeå, although the latter conducted a higher value regarding industrial diversity than the previous. The result was partly conducted by established correlations between the industrial composition within the studied communities and virtual cases of implemented synergies consisting of the same industries and energy or material flows around the world. The potential to industrial symbiosis along the northern coast of Sweden could ultimately be determined which, if enforced, could be expected to increase the regional resource efficiency.
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