ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at how changes at the operations and product/service level will enable a more sustainable supply chain. It discusses the purpose of procurement is to enable the organisation's functions to take place. Industrial symbiosis is the idea of copying the fundamental principle in natural eco-systems that the 'waste' from one organism always becomes 'food' for another organism. It is impossible to discuss industrial symbiosis without mentioning Kalundborg, Denmark, as it was that industrial symbiosis was first uncovered as a phenomenon. Instead of a simple linear flow of materials from extraction through manufacturing use and to disposal, industrial symbiosis creates a tangled web of material and energy flows where 'waste' and 'raw materials' become synonymous. The UK's National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (NISP) has been running since 2005, making it the first Industrial Symbiosis programme on a national level. NISP's parent company, International Synergies Ltd, has launched similar industrial symbiosis programmes in 15 different countries across five continents.
