ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the progress of adopting circular economy practices in China, looking at the example of industrial symbiosis in the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area (TEDA) eco-industrial park, which covers an area of 340 km2 with around 10,000 companies. Since 2010, the TEDA Eco Centre has been facilitating the development of industrial symbiosis and various circular economy related measures within TEDA. The experience of the TEDA Eco Centre shows the importance of establishing a ‘coordinating agent’ to facilitate the communication among companies as well as mediating between the companies and local government bodies. The existence of the TEDA Eco Centre has contributed to an increased awareness of circular economy among companies and residents within TEDA and increased the capacity of companies to adopt circular economy practices such as industrial symbiosis and new technologies. Furthermore, in this chapter we describe how international development cooperation programmes have facilitated the uptake of circular economy practices. Finally, we highlight how the Chinese government’s framing of the circular economy has determined the measures that have been taken up by industries. Attempting to reduce their environmental end-of-life impacts, many industries currently still put more emphasis on recycling, rather than establishing inter-company symbiotic relationships to use another’s waste as a resource and reduce the use of primary raw materials.
