Actor Behaviour and Robustness of Industrial Symbiosis Networks: An Agent-Based Modelling Approach

Abstract

Industrial Symbiosis Networks (ISNs) consist of firms that exchange residual materials and energy locally, in order to gain economic, environmental and/or social advantages. In practice, ISNs regularly fail when partners leave and the recovery of residual streamsends. Regarding the current societal need for a shi towards sustainability, it is undesirable that ISNs should fail. Failures of ISNs may be caused by actor behaviour that leads to unanticipated economic losses. In this paper, we explore the e ect of these behaviours on ISN robustness byusing anagent-basedmodel (ABM). The constructedmodel is basedon insights fromboth literature and participatory modelling in three real-world cases. It simulates the implementation of synergies for local waste exchangeandcompostproduction. TheTheoryofPlannedBehaviour (TPB)wasused tomodel agentbehaviour in time-dependent bilateral negotiations and synergy evaluationprocesses. Weexploredmodel behaviourwith andwithoutTPB logic across a rangeof possible TPB input variables. The simulation results showhowthemodelled planned behaviour a ects the cash flowoutcomes of the social agents and the robustness of the network. The study contributes to the theoretical development of industrial symbiosis research by providing a quantitative model of all ISN implementation stages, in which various behavioural patterns of entrepreneurs are included. It also contributes to practice by o ering insights on how network dynamics and robustness outcomes are not only related to context and ISN design, but also to actor behaviour.