ACR+

The MAESTRI project aims to tackle improvements in the impact of manufacturing activities at both company level and system level in order to achieve significant results. A holistic approach will enable process monitoring and optimization, as well as focus on an integrated and cross-sectorial interaction that can have a greater impact within the process industry. MAESTRI project encompasses an Industrial Symbiosis (IS) approach, which, within the scope of sustainable manufacturing for process industries, fosters the sharing of resources (energy, water, residues and recycled materials) between different processes of a single company or between multiple companies.
Findings from previous MAESTRI activities indicate that there is a need to provide companies with structured and systematic ways to uncover the latent value in waste resources and to support the adaptation to each particular business context and the identification of opportunities at local / regional level.

This document presents a User Guide to Engage in Industrial Symbiosis, linked to the Toolkit for Industrial Symbiosis (T4IS) presented in previous Deliverable D4.3. Toolkit for Industrial Symbiosis. The User Guide is developed to serve as an introductory / supporting material for the use of the T4IS by companies. The T4IS is built upon four guiding questions, the four HOW TOs: How to SEE waste, How to CHARACTERISE waste, How to VALUE waste and How to EXPLOIT waste. These guiding questions represent the main steps in a development process for IS exchanges. The User Guide introduces the concept of IS and an overview of the steps based on the HOW TO questions.

The focus of WP4 within MAESTRI project is to provide companies with methods and tools to develop self-organising IS to the extent that this is possible. This User Guide constitutes an easy-to-read brief document for practitioners to find selected information on what the concept of industrial symbiosis is, how to develop an IS project and some recommendations to increase its likelihood of success. This User Guide completes the delivery of the MAESTRI approach to support companies in their journey towards implementing IS-based solutions.