The reading defines Industrial symbiosis as “a relationship between two or more firms that exchange their waste (materials – energy – water), as feedstock for the production process.” This is in an attempt to prevent pollution and promote practices of recycling and reusing materials creating little to no waste. The companies that create an Industrial symbiosis relationship form an Industrial ecosystem, which is then divided by either Eco-Industrial Parks or Eco-Industrial Networks. 

Within the past few years there have been many studies that have found that certain types of waste through various levels of eco-friendly industrial networks have some limitations. These limitations occur along the lines of physical aspects, how and where things are located, the cost, and of course the impact on the environment. This paper describes and focuses on these limitations specifically in terms of where things are located. The paper identifies that there are seven categories waste is separated into by the physical characteristics, these categories include: thermal energy, fuels, metals,

plastics, chemicals, minerals and organics. Waste is also divided by the spatial scale by: Industrial Park (IP), Local (LOC), Regional (REG), National (NAT) and Global (GLO).

The case studies of Greeks industrial symbiosis was documented through: “research in the archives of ministry economy”, “personal professional experience of the author in the field of environmental industrial controls”, and “through contacts and interviews with administrators of the majority of Industrial Parks in Greece as well as with executives of various businesses.” In Greece trucks are generally used as transportation to dispute waste within the country and ships were used for any waste abroad. This transportation cost is generally low, however its environmental benefit is to be determined. 

Understanding and considering the spatial scale, along with its various factors, is crucial when studying industrial symbiosis. The limited number of partnerships between companies can be attributed to barriers that firms face. It is important to explore new developments in eco-industrial networks and conduct further research on the specific conditions related to the spatial scale of industrial networks.This case study solidifies the idea that spatial conditions have a huge impact on whether industrial symbiosis can take place.

The Eco-Innovation Observatory is basically a place where people gather and study lots of information about eco-friendly innovations and the circular economy. They collect this information from different parts of Europe and other important economic areas in the world. This helps companies and organizations that work on innovation get all the information they need in one place. It also helps policymakers make good decisions when creating new policies. In the report Eco-innovation is defined as “Eco-innovation is any innovation that reduces the use of natural resources and decreases the release of harmful substances across the whole life-cycle”. 

Eco-innovation is very important in Greece due to its susceptibility to extreme pollution in ecosystems and climate change having many islands. Policy regarding Greece’s environment is focused on renewable energy and energy efficiency that follows eco-innovation. In 2018 Greece is ranked low out of all of the countries in terms of eco-innovation performance, with a score of 75 getting closer to EU’s average of 100. In 2020 the environmental performance index ranked Greece 25 globally overall. The country’s air quality, fish stocks, and GHG emissions intensity are all about average. However the country struggles with air emissions from transport and electricity power stations. There are also obstacles regarding loss of biodiversity, overexploitation of water resources, and degradation of coastal zones. In terms of the use solar thermal energy, Greece is continuously thriving better than most countries. 

Due to the Waste Management plan there has been a reduction in the pressure from regeneration and treatment of waste. No matter what, there still continues to be a problem with illegal landfills. Greece lacks facilities to handle this issue of the illegal landfills and all the hazardous waste produced overall. Although they are doing better at waste recycling, they still fall behind when trying to meet the 2020 municipal waste recycling target of 50%. 

During Greece’s most recent economic crisis most of their money and resources were focused on research and development and they couldn’t pay enough attention to improve the protection of the country’s environment. Thankfully, the economy has made significant progress. The economy is mainly based on tourism, shipping, and the public sector. Greece’s strengths are in organizational and marketing innovations and their weaknesses are technical improvements. Small companies, especially the ones that are just starting out, have a hard time getting money because banks and other financial organizations are afraid of taking risks. Currently the support for research and innovation mostly relies on being able to use money from the European Union’s funds for development and research.

After learning about sustainability and visiting hydra I would never have guessed that they face sustainability problems. They don’t really use any cars besides a few garbage trucks, everything is really walkable, they use donkeys as transportation, and everything seems so simple and clean there. However there does seem to be some sustainability issues after all. I think it is amazing that they want to improve this island! 

The island of Hydra only economic activity occurs from tourists. Which means most occupations revolve around tourists activity as well. Unfortunately there has been a significant decline in visitors over the years. Some issues they face is that there is a scarcity for water where water comes from a water boat that transports water from the mainland. A solution that they are aiming for is to switch to wind power to generate electricity and pump water to the reservoir. They are also investigating the possibility of collecting rainwater. Their power and energy source is also unsustainable since it is lignite fuelled power stations. A possible solution is wind and solar power or wave power. Solar panels are actually banned on the island due to it being historic. Hydra’s waste is another main concern as it is all dumped in one area then set on fire creating hazardous waste leakage in the sea and soil. An approach to fix this is to reduce plastic and other waste. There is a need to manage land usage due to unoccupied second homes and abandoned properties. The land could be better used to plant making it more self-sufficient. They are planning to create a survey to explore the island’s education and employment. There is a need for more job opportunities for soon graduates. A major issue on the island is transportation. Even though without automobiles the island is more sustainable, it is not ideal for the island. Without any airport or access to helicopters the only access to the island is the sea and their main ferry Hellenic Seaways. Fixing these problems will make the island so much more sustainable and improve the island overall. This is important for future generations and respecting the environment of the whole community. Thankfully since this research has been created in the past 10 years sustainability has become a priority for the island.

According to the reading a circular economy is “an industrial system that is restorative or regenerative by intention and design.” Due to all of the waste recycling is no longer enough, and having a circular economy is the best solution. Our currency industrial economy uses the linear process. This means that instead the end of a product cycle leads to becoming waste or “thrown away.” The great amount of emissions and waste the linear process creates is extremely harmful to our environment.  However using a circular economy would mean that minimal material becomes waste and instead is reused and becomes raw materials to become something new. A circular economy eliminates waste and pollution and anything that has a negative impact on human health and natural systems. It avoids the use of fossil fuels and non-renewable resources by only using renewable resources. The circular economy was designed and refined by a mixed group of academics and not given credit to one person in particular. The circular economy also follows the “cradle to cradle” approach in the idea that nothing is wasted, everything is transformed into something new. The aim of the circular economy is to reduce waste and emissions while improving the environment. Regeneration constantly occurs as products get renewed and replenished by going through a new lifecycle. This regeneration will help improve the stability of scarce resources being used. The circular economy ensures that we will respect our finite resources while still having enough food, water, shelter, heating and so much more! The reason why the circular economy isn’t that well known and used is because it requires a lot of changes and causes a lot of obstacles for companies to overcome. There is a lack of awareness, economic viability, policies, and technology to implement a circular economy. Some materials are not able to be recycled indefinitely as well. 

It definitely seems like a lot of hard work to reconstruct a business to make it more sustainable, but Dr. Daan Elffers came up with four simple steps to begin! The first step or phase is to set goals and create an action plan. During this phase you will be able to align your goal and circular economy with your company’s core values. Next step is educating and activating your organization. This occurs by providing training to motivate employees to achieve your goals. The next phase is to innovate and optimize by analyzing the materials and see if they need to be improved. Lastly, you have to engage and share ambitions with everyone inside and outside of the company.

All of the speakers from the US Embassy and the ACG Office of Sustainability Speaker were so amazing. I am so thankful for the opportunity of being able to meet them during class. Both of these jobs really seemed to make an impact and are so rewarding! The US Embassy was so interesting to me especially because I didn’t really know exactly what their job was before meeting them. Turns out their job varies from a million different tasks throughout their career. Tasks can range from getting movies approved to be filmed in Greece to helping brands find which market is best for them and many more. Their passion and dedication is so admirable how they are willing to travel and live in different countries constantly every four years. I think it is really nice that the government gives a lot of stability to families and provides them with many necessities to help. It also is so cool because I feel like they are always learning something new with each different task they have to do. The main speaker was so sweet and gave great advice regarding job opportunities and learning to take risks because you could only benefit from it. Like her experience with the job application process for joining the embassy. I love how she and the rest of the embassy members help America form better relationships with many different countries because that is so important. 

Learning from the ACG Office of Suitability Speaker was so insightful! You can tell how much she truly cares about our environment and sustainability. I strive to be more aware of my carbon footprint after listening to her. She is working very hard at the American College of Greece to make it as sustainable as possible with projects ahead as well. This college is going to implement water fountains for students to use more reusable cups like Americans. I thought it was so interesting when she told us the story of how there is a debate on the cigarette company trying to invest in their sustainability projects. The controversy of whether sustainable cigarette companies can even be considered sustainable is ironic. She explained obviously this is because they are bad for the environment and the health of everyone using the product. Overall I really enjoyed both experiences of the presentations by the US embassy and ACG Office of Sustainability Speaker.

  Today, being in Hydra was one of my favorite days out of the whole trip so far. Hydra is sooooo so beautiful! I loved the atmosphere of the historic buildings and surroundings and the lack of cars and having to walk is something that makes me so happy with everyone so active around me. The morning coffee with everyone was so cute and I loved soaking my surroundings in with a cup of coffee and the cute little kitten too. Me, Audrey, Ava, and Elise got the opportunity to ride a donkey around the island and it was so cool! Being able to tan and swim with everyone in the water was so much fun. I really missed the sun! There was the cutest little pup jumping in the water that we played with too! I am so happy we visited this island because I thought Mykonos was the best so far but Hydra definitely topped it! The lunch was so yummy especially because they put arugula on the side of my chicken and that is my favvvvv! Then we went shopping for a little but thankfully I didn’t splurge and spend too much money. The ferry wasn’t too bad either! Overall amazing day that I am so grateful for:)

I took my first class about the environment when I was a senior in high school. For about half of the year I considered the class to be “boring” and didn’t try to find much interest in it. It wasn’t until we watched the Lorax as a class that made me start to gain interest and really start to realize how important the class was. Now, taking supply chain management I am remembering how much I really do enjoy this material and that I truly find it to be so vital to have knowledge on for our future generations and my future kids. Already after just a few lectures in class I am really enjoying everything we are learning about and find it so fascinating to learn about. I think that the environment is a great thing to have knowledge on and I truly am so happy to be learning more and more. So far my favorite thing we have learned about would be the linear vs circular economy. I find it so cool to learn about how companies are able to find away reuse materials instead of producing more waste. All of the companies that are cradle-to-cradle certified are really admirable. Another thing I really enjoyed was having the opportunity to meet the embassy members. I didn’t know much about what exactly the embassy was at first or heard a lot about it but learning about all of the range of things they do everyday is so impressive. The way they are so passionate about their job to relocate to different countries every few years is insane. On top of how incredible they were as embassy members, the three of them were so humble, relatable and kind.

Although this course is not directly correlated with my major, I hope that one day I can open my own business and be able to achieve this myself. To be able to make a difference within a proud accomplishment like a business is something that I would like to strive for. Learning about this material inspires me to be more mindful about waste and volunteer to clean up waste and recycle everything possible. Something I am really looking forward to learning about is more about how to make a change and how to incorporate more positive sustainability efforts into my daily life. I aim to be able to practice this a little bit more each day and educate my friends and family about it as well.