“Industrial symbiosis in Greece: A study of spatial allocation patterns,” introduced me to the concept of industrial symbiosis. Initially, the idea of industrial symbiosis seemed a little daunting and quite extensive, but once you realize that it’s just companies exchanging their waste to be used in their production processes, it becomes a lot easier to understand. Essentially, this study analyses the Eco-Industrial Networks in Greece and explores their limitations in a spatial capacity. The article taught me that there are five levels when looking at the spatial scale of waste: Global, National, Regional, Local, and Industrial Park. I also learned that when transporting waste between Greek companies that are participating in industrial symbiosis, trucks are mainly used when moving the waste within the country’s borders and ships are mainly used when moving the waste to another country. I found it amazing that industrial symbiosis can be so far-reaching as to actually include other countries, like Italy, or even countries in other continents, like China. Furthermore, I’d presume that transporting waste via ships would be far too costly and would far outweigh any benefits, but apparently, it is actually profitable because cargo ship containers aren’t too expensive. However, as the study suggests, the environmental implications of transporting waste in this way must be examined. When reading the study, I also thought that another note-worthy fact is that more industrial symbiosis business partnerships “might be possible within Greece’s existing IPs.” In addition, when the article discussed the correlation between the type of waste and the spatial scale, I was pleased to read that most of the results seemed to me to be common sense. I was able to understand why superheated water and yeast residues should be transported on the IP or Local level so as not to lose heat and because of high compatibility, respectively. When discussing the transportation of gases, it is clear to me that this particular type of waste should also be moved on an IP or Local level  because they are considerably high-risk and are usually moved via pipes or trucks. At the end of “Industrial symbiosis in Greece…,” there is a summary of the three primary factors limiting Eco-Industrial Networks in a spatial respect: economic, physical, and social. The economic factors include labor and transportation costs. The physical factors include the physical dimensions of the waste in question. The social factors might be behavioral such as companies’ usual tendencies. The study then concludes that as evidenced by the analysis, the applications of industrial symbiosis are in fact limited on a spatial level. 

Eco-innovation refers to any innovation that limits the use of natural resources and reduces the exposure of harmful substances into the environment within a whole life-cycle. Since Greece has multiple islands it is important to monitor climate changes and intensive ecosystem pollution because these environmental issues will have a greater impact. This is why Greece has focused on eco innovations and renewable energies. Solar, wind, and hydropower are a few renewable energies sources that have been implemented. While Greece does use these renewable energies, in 2018 it only scored 75 on a EU average of 100 in terms of eco-innovation performance. The country continues to reach the EU’s average for eco-innovation performances, which is a score of 82. I was quite surprised to learn this as I saw multiple solar panels on buildings as well as multiple wind turbines on different islands I traveled to in Greece. This made me think that they were a more renewable energy friendly country. However Greece was ranked 25th overall globally on the environmental performance index. The EPI states that the country’s air quality, fish stocks and GHG emissions intensity are all averagely ranked. Greece is faced with many challenges including destruction of coastal zones, loss of biodiversity in both terrestrial and marine ecosystems, transportation air emissions, electricity power stations, and overexploitation of its water resources. The region of Thessaly is the main area where overexploitation of groundwater resources occur. Within Thessaly region high levels of energy and water are used for agricultural irrigation. Although there are many groundwater irrigation systems that run illegally and are not accounted for. I was surprised to learn that the bathing water in Greece was assessed as excellent. I just assumed since you can’t drink the tap water there that meant the water quality was poor. Waste is a major issue for Greece, there are many illegal landfills as well as illegal metal foundries that can be found within the country. However by reducing the illegal landfills there are still no proper facilities to remove the hazardous wastes. Personally I was unaware of how big the waste issue was in Greece. I read about how hydra has a major problem with waste and how they do not properly dispose of it. They burn the waste which releases toxic fumes into the atmosphere, polluting it. However I thought this was an issue only Hydra was facing, not the entire country.

The main source of pollution prevention is the recycling and reuse of waste and end-of-life cycle products. Industrial Symbiosis is where at least two companies exchange their waste. They use this waste to create their product. Companies that have these relationships form an Industrial Ecosystem. Which have two categories: Eco-industrial Parks and Eco-Industrial Networks. There are many case studies regarding this in Greece. In the reading, they identified 455 case studies regarding industrial symbiosis in 16 Eco-Industrial networks. This included small and big businesses. It stated they tried to find case studies that covered a wide range of waste types. They found a total of 45 waste types. Within those types include energy exchange and material resource exchange. These businesses that participate in industrial symbiosis are throughout Greece. To transport materials within the country trucks were mainly used and if it was abroad ships were used.

Waste was separated into different categories including thermal energy, fuels, metals, plastics, chemicals, minerals, and organics. Some of these categories may overlap. Included in this were also tables. The first table was Industrial Parks currently in Greece. Apparently, 30 are established while 24 are either under construction or have not been established yet. The majority of the case studies are from smaller spatial scales, IP and local. As the spatial scale increases the number of cases decreases. Waste was also transported from other countries like Spain, Italy, Russia, China, etc. This is still profitable because shipping the waste across the tea does not cost very much, but it could not be great for the environment. The next table explained the case studies by spatial scale of transportation of waste.

The next table shows the spatial scale of EINs by category and type of waste exchanged. It was found that only certain types of waste were transported at a small spatial scale. Some of these types included: superheated water, malt residues, yeast residues, seed residues, wastepaper, old tires, carbon dioxide, industrial iron scrap, purified iron scrap, electrical furnace iron dross, spent catalysts, marble powder, and industrial polycarbonate waste. It then goes on to talk about certain types of waste and the characteristics of the locations and spatial areas it was transported to.

An example of spatial allocation of companies at the IP scale in Greece is the Eco-Industrial Network of aluminum industries. The aluminum waste is exchanged usually at a national scale, while the end-of-life product is exchanged at a global scale. The last table focuses on the “distribution of case studies by development (industrial) Centre by spatial scale” (6). They noticed out of the 455 case studies, 408 of them are located in the greater areas of Athens, Thessaloniki, Inofyta-Thiva, Volos-Larisa and Patra.

Overall, Greece has an average performance in air quality, fish stocks, and GHG emissions intensity. While on the other end, Greece suffers from air emissions from transportation, water resources, issues in biodiversity and marine life, and coastal zones.

Greece is getting closer to the EU average. There are five components to the Eco-IS composite index which include: eco-innovation inputs, eco-innovation activities, eco-innovation outputs, resource efficiency outcomes, and socio-economic outcomes. Greece is currently behind in eco-innovation inputs, resource efficiency outcomes, and socio-economic outputs.

Eco-innovation input for Greece is 79 where the average is 100. There are not very many R&D personnel and researchers working in Greece. Most of these workers are at universities or research centers. Greece once again scored below the EU average for eco-innovation activities. In 2017 Greece had fewer small and medium enterprises that has sustainable products than the EU average. Greece actually scored well for eco-innovation outputs. Apparently, Greece was one of Europe’s leaders in eco-innovation-related media coverage. The reading states, “The environmental outcome component is based on combined national statistics on domestic material productivity, domestic water productivity, inland energy productivity, and GHG emissions intensity”(11). Greece scored 53 outcomes out of 100. For energy productivity Greece was close to the EU average. For socioeconomic outcomes, Greece is one of the lowest-scoring countries.

There were efforts to input eco-innovations into the construction sector, but they were slowed down. Due to the economic issues in Greece, many companies focused and explored opportunities in fulfilling their customer’s needs focusing on solar cells that can be used in windows, and other products. This technology is being supported by the government because of its energy efficiency and saving energy. There has been growth in solar energy in Greece. Along with that, there have been several energy-related research programs. Funds are being used to focus on green growth and antipollution technology.

Greece has multiple barriers with politics, institutions, culture, society, and economy that are preventing them to develop with eco-innovation. Because of the economy companies have been focusing on low-risk investments with short-term returns rather than high-risk and high returns that have longer periods and are knowledge focused. Smaller companies can be more flexible and adapting innovation opportunities. Another barrier Greece faces is education. Their high school performance is considered weak. Because of this, there are not many people graduating with doctorates or going into research. Greece has to focus on external funding for research.

Greece keeps focusing on renewable energy and other aspects of energy. They’re also focusing on waste management. These things can promote eco-innovation.

Hydra is a tiny Greek Island with beautiful hillsides and a limestone paved port at the bottom. When we visited Hydra I was amazed at how small the Island was and not filled with as many tourists. It was a quiet town with a homey feeling and it was definitely one of my favorite parts of the trip. However after visiting I was left wondering how the island operates. Are there schools, is housing affordable and what is it like during the off season? Do people just live there during the summer and leave for the off season? Considering the island is so small it makes it difficult for them to obtain everyday essentials like electricity, transportation, ect. Transportation is limited at Hydra, there are no airports and the only way to get around is by donkey, mule, or water taxis. There are no cars that run on the island which was interesting to learn. I was able to ride a donkey with a few friends on our day trip, experiencing how the locals get around. Since everything is centered by the port it would seem excessive to have cars driving on the island. However I found out that having no cars run has led to a trash problem. There are only two trash trucks that take trash to be burned. The trash buildup is several months behind and the toxins from burning the trash are being released into the air. Since it can not be reached by car, everything is brought in my boat. Even their ice is brought in by boat which in reality running boats all the time is not sustainable. Along with this sewage water is being dumped into the ocean every night. Which freaks me out considering I was swimming all day in that water when we visited. All the power runs from an outside source which could result in a suffering shutdown for the whole island. There are no huge hotels and restaurants/bars are family run. This means that their economy is heavily reliant on tourism. However this leads me to wonder how they survive in the off seasons when tourism is low. Are they truly making enough during the summer to stay afloat? The breathtaking beaches and traditional feel to the island is distracting to how unsustainable the Island actually is.

In Hydra the only mode of transportation is by donkey, mule, or water taxi, besides the two garbage trucks. The island is actually a national monument and has the feel of a small town. There’s no mass tourism, all the restaurants are family owned. Along with it not having mass tourism there are no hotels or an airport. Everything may look great from the surface but there are issues with garbage, water, and electricity. The only economic activity on the island is tourism. Everything is even brought to the island by boat, including ice. The way the island has electricity is from undersea cables. One time in 2018 the cable broke and the island was at a standstill.

There are two different views, the first is where people feel like Hydra has been sidelined as some of the islands have become more popular. The other view is people who have their summer home, environmentalists, and foreign residents fear development. Some people believe the only income the island receives are from visitors. A good portion of jobs in Greece is specifically for tourism. During the summer time in Hydra they have to bring in more workers since they get so busy.

Most of these issues are arising because of the rise of tourism. The reputation of visiting Greece has worsen over the years. The rising price of land is forcing locals to move out and rich foreigners moving in. There were rumors going around Hydra that they were planning to make the island more accessible to cruise ships like Santorini.

The main issue in ydra is that it is unsustainable. The young people who visit don’t see a future there. People are thinking the island is turning into an island for old people’s home for the rich. To tackle the problems on the island they need to take a bottom-up approach.

They decided to start a research project. This project includes the research of energy use, waste disposal, water supply, land use and transportation to make a plan for the island.

The main source of water is from the water boat which transports water from the mainland to the island. Some ideas for the island to be self sufficient is collecting rain water, getting new cistern systems or holding tanks or a reservoir. One idea that is less sustainable are pipelines to the mainland. This source is very unsustainable. The main ideas to make this more sustainable are generating power from wind and water. The islands waste is brought to a designated area and set on fire. There tends to be spillage that gets into the sea and soil. A small idea is to create a fee for plastic bags. It’s not a giant step but it’s a start. Other ideas included plastic water bottles being banned or a separate waste collection system. Transportation and education and employment are two other areas that also need to be focused on.

The “Eco-innovation in Greece” country profile was created by the Eco-Innovation Observatory to provide an analysis of such things as the eco-innovation trends in Greece. Prior to reading this analysis, I’ll admit I was unfamiliar with the term eco-innovation and didn’t really know what it meant. However, the definition of eco-innovation provided at the very beginning of the analysis really helped me to understand it in a succinct way. “Eco-innovation in Greece” taught me that Greece’s level of technological innovation is quite low as seen by their reduced patent applications. I was also very surprised and impressed by the fact that the bathing waters in Greece are of a very high quality. However, Greece is currently experiencing an overexploitation of their water resources and a lack of biodiversity in both their land and water ecosystems. Whilst reading “Eco-innovation in Greece,” I was also quite perplexed by the mention of illegal landfills and illegal metal foundries because I didn’t really know that these existed and I’m somewhat curious as to how these originated and what can be done to locate and close them down. On the topic of waste, the analysis mentioned that Greece needs to recycle more as well as the fact that they are lacking appropriate hazardous waste disposal facilities. With all of this talk about waste, I can’t help but think how implementing circular processes and evolving into circular economies would serve to help solve, or at least lessen, this problem. Furthermore, relating back to my Lean and Six Sigma class that I took last semester, there are so many good waste reduction and process improvement methods that I learned about that Greek companies should really try to implement to aid in waste management. On another note, I was so pleased to see that Greece has been doing well in utilizing more solar power by increasing photovoltaic installations. In addition, the analysis discussed transparent solar cells for windows, smart meters, and nanotechnology products, which seem to be interesting concepts that I’m curious to learn more about. Personally, perhaps the most amazing part of the entire analysis was when it talked about Kafireas and the environmental implications of the seven wind farms on the island of Evia. Although it seems like it is quite a complicated operation to develop and run this wind farm, the statistics alone show that it is definitely worth the effort and I truly can’t believe that “Kafireas will help the country achieve full decarbonisation
by 2028!”

My main takeaway from reading “Towards Sustainability” is that the beautiful island of Hydra, which I had the great pleasure of visiting just a few weeks ago, has numerous deep-seated problems that need immediate addressing. If all of the information in “Towards Sustainability” still holds true in 2023, I am quite shocked, to say the least. When I was in Hydra, I remember thinking it was such a quaint, cute, and “old-fashioned” island; especially when I saw the mail boat come and deliver the mail and then saw it being wheelbarrowed off to all of the businesses. The carless streets, the suitcases strapped onto donkeys, and the supplies being wheeled by on wagons just seemed to add to the charm of this small Greek island. However, I’ll be the first to admit that I did not realize the socio-economic implications of this way of life. When on Hydra, I was taking everything in through the eyes of a tourist, so I obviously didn’t pause to wonder where all the waste went or where the drinking water and ice came from. After reading this paper, it is now clear to me all of the seemingly hidden problems that I overlooked that wouldn’t be visible to the average absent-minded tourist like how the entire island’s economy strictly relies on tourism, or how there were no solar panels, or how there was no designated place for all of the garbage to go. I find it quite fascinating  that the only source of electricity is from an undersea cable that brings power to the island from a polluting mainland power station. As the paper suggests, surely wind, solar, wave, or even waste management power is a better alternative. Additionally, the waste management practices described in the paper are truly appalling considering they are both further contributing to pollution and wholly unsustainable due to the ever-increasing amount of waste. I also think that “Towards Sustainability” is correct in repeatedly stating that the sustainability problem on Hydra has both global and local aspects to it. I also feel the author’s anguish toward the fact that nothing is being done to rectify any of Hydra’s problems because I’ve seen firsthand how stalemates can happen when no involved party can agree on a solution. On a final and more uplifting note, I think it is so cool that I was actually able to envision all of the scenery described in the paper since I was just recently there. Furthermore, I find it so interesting that every part of Hydra that the author first described back in 2008 still holds true today.

Based on my interpretation from the article, industrial symbiosis is essentially the process of when a business forms relationships between two or more associations to exchange waste in order to reduce, reuse, recycle this waste. Going off my interpretation an example of this would be a food company giving their scraps of leftover food to a farm for the animals to eat.  So instead of the company throwing away the food they and having it go to waste it is given to the farmers for their animals. This is a great way for businesses to incorporate sustainability into their practices and reducing the amount of waste that is produced. This reminds me a lot of thrifting, thrifting is very popular right now and instead of people throwing away their clothes or house hold items they donate them for others to use.

Economic, spatial, physical, and environmental conditions within the eco-industrial networks may be restricted as a result of industrial symbiosis in Greece, within Greece their spatial scale is relatively small as it operates mainly on the local level and not as much global yet as Greece is just diving into this this in recent years as it has recently focused on being more environmentally friendly from a business perspective. Even though there have been thousands of case studies on this subject in Greece, this study only examines 455 of them, which represent a variety of small and large firms of all sizes, as well as other company types, such as industrial parks. As the businesses looked at may vary in different ways they were analyzed altogether and there were 45 different waste types identified, from both energy and material waste. When first going into this article I didn’t even think of energy waste and only thought of physical material waste, so I can only imagine how much waste isn’t reused/recycled. As we talked about in class there was the closed loop in supply chain this article mentions end of life cycle products within the study. It is interesting to see how all these topics mentioned come together within a business and impact our environment and as I mentioned earlier I was surprised by the different types of waste, the article goes into further detail how the waste is then moved further into several other categories.  Lots of waste is also broken down further in order for it to be passed along further but some items simply can not be reused or recycled again.

In the complete guide to “What is Circular Economy and How Does it Work?,” I learned about such things as the benefits and barriers to a circular economy as well as some examples of said economy and how it can be successfully implemented. I particularly liked the World Economic Forum definition of a circular economy because I think that it explains the concept well. Furthermore, according to the article, evolving from linear to circular economic models is now widely acknowledged as the “solution,” for lack of a better word, to the sustainability concerns that we are currently facing. By reading this article, I was also able to understand the deep relationship between a circular economy and the concepts, practices, and ideologies that I learned about in my Lean and Six Sigma class at College of Charleston last semester. The guide also did a good job of reinforcing the message that a circular economy is not strictly about recycling, or even reducing or reusing, but that it actually encompasses a lot more than those redundant “fixes.” A circular economy involves building sustainability into products in a proactive capacity, rather than reactive, during their design phases. In this way, products are better able to be reused, recycled, and/or transformed through the processes involved in a circular economy. This article also called my attention to the fact that the idea of a circular economy also involves limiting or eliminating the utilization of non-renewable energy sources and fossil fuels. By instead focusing on renewable resources and their careful preservation, the article says that doing so will “support regeneration and actively improve the environment.” Thus, I found this concept of the regeneration of living systems to be quite interesting and something I may want to explore further. Just like in real life where we should maximize our potentials and get the maximum out of every situation, the circular systems and processes in a circular economy also seek to maximize the value of every product and resource that enters it. After reading this guide, it is clear to me that a circular economy, and all of the ideas behind it, far outweighs the concept of a linear economy with its archaic and wasteful approaches and views of a product’s life cycle. Businesses should be working tirelessly to evolve their linear systems and processes into circular ones that support regeneration, transformation, waste reduction, and the overall betterment of our planet.