Ecological network analysis for an industrial solid waste metabolism system

Abstract

Faced with an increasing amount of industrial solid waste (ISW) in the process of rapid industrialization, it is indispensable to carry out ISW metabolism study to realize source and waste reduction. In this study, a new composite waste input-output (WIO) model is developed to examine ISW production and production relationships among different sectors. In particular, the extended methods of network control analysis and network utility analysis are used in the ecological network analysis under two ISW scenarios (i.e. common industrial solid waste (CISW) and hazardous waste (HW) scenarios). Furthermore, comprehensive utilization analysis is first developed to evaluate the ISW utilization level and to guide the planning of sectors with large proportion of ISW production. A case study of Guangdong, China shows that indirect flow analysis can be used to understand the internal ISW metabolism structure. The mining sectors produce a large amount of direct ISW and perform a low level of comprehensive utilization, but they have mutualism relationships with other sectors. The energy transformation (EH) sector in the CISW system has high direct generation intensity and plays as a main controller. The situation of paper manufacturing (MP) sector in HW system is similar to that of EH. Therefore, it is expected that the results of this study will provide scientific foundations for these sectors to formulate future ISW reduction policies. A composite waste input-output model is developed to examine industrial solid waste (ISW) production and production relationships among different sectors, which will provide scientific foundations for future ISW reduction.