Industrial symbiosis in the Upper Valley: A study of the Casella-Hypertherm Recycling Partnership

Abstract

The Casella-Hypertherm Recycling Partnership (CHRP) is a collaboration between a waste management company and a manufacturer that has created a unique recycling environment for companies in the Upper Valley region of Vermont and New Hampshire. This article presents the CHRP as a novel form of industrial symbiosis (IS) using the recently published theoretical framework of IS dynamics proposed by Boons et al. We present this partnership in the academic literature for the first time and also gauge the adequacy of the typology when faced with a new model of IS. We argue that the CHRP exhibits qualities of multiple dynamics, and may in fact be an example of a new dynamic which we call "active facilitation". Finally, the article also contributes evidence to the Boons et al. generative research question about the relationship between initial conditions and specific dynamics by analyzing the context in which the CHRP emerged.