Industrial Symbiosis within EIPs: Sustainable development for Borg El-Arab in Egypt

What is it about?

This paper explores how industrial symbiosis within eco-industrial parks (EIPs) can help advance sustainable development in Egypt. Based on the industrial ecology theory, this study focuses on the industrial zone of Borg El-Arab near Alexandria city and explores possibilities to transform it, or parts of it, into an EIP. It identifies opportunities for possible by-product exchange in the third industrial zone of Borg El-Arab, which has the highest solid waste output. The study then presents a pilot model of a brownfield EIP and suggests that the benefits from byproducts exchange would be enhanced even further if some factories are created to close the loop of industrial processes in the zone (brick production, animal feed and fish farms, and organic fertilizers production). These conclusions confirm that there is a real potential to improve environmental performance of the Borg El-Arab Industrial City and align it with the national and global sustainable development goals. Key words: Eco-industrial parks, industrial ecology, sustainable industrial development, developing countries, Egypt

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