Small and Medium Enterprises make up the vast majority of the businesses within the European Union, and are consequently important contributors to local and regional well-being. Nevertheless, Small and Medium Enterprises face many challenges when it comes to fostering innovation and improving environmental performance as part of their day-to-day activities. In parallel, the global consumption of raw materials is increasing, which makes it necessary to define and establish strategies to reduce the amount of, and dependence on, raw material extraction and imports, whilst also improving the sustainability of SMEs. In this context it is essential to promote circular economy strategies, such as industrial symbiosis partnerships, where companies use the waste products of other industries as raw materials. To achieve this, there is a need to find enablers to support industrial symbiosis collaborations among SMEs. These could include regional developers and local authorities. The aims of this study are to investigate whether industrial symbiosis is already a common practice within SMEs in the Västra Götaland Region of Sweden, as well as identifying barriers and motivations for partnerships. For this purpose, case studies of two industries were carried out: beer production and mushroom farming. Information was collected using on-site visits and semi-structured interviews, and the key findings where combined with a literature review, then used to propose new industrial symbiosis opportunities. The results show that industrial symbiosis is already used by some of the beer and mushroom producers. Economic gains and better environmental performance were presented as the main motivations for the companies to be involved in these partnerships. Nevertheless, industrial symbiosis could be extended to also include those companies that do not yet share their waste, mostly due to a lack of time or knowledge. Consequently, the study suggests potential industrial symbiosis partnerships that could be implemented within a short period of time, and be used by the local authorities to help SMEs to achieve circularity of wastes. Future work considers the dissemination of the results among SMEs as well as apply the approach to other types of industries operating in the region to identify additional IS potential partnerships.

中小企业在欧盟内部占绝大多数，因此是当地和地区福祉的重要贡献者。然而，作为日常活动的一部分，中小型企业在促进创新和改善环境绩效方面面临许多挑战。同时，全球原材料消耗量正在增加，这使得有必要制定和建立战略以减少原材料提取和进口的数量并减少对原材料的依赖，同时还提高中小型企业的可持续性。在这种情况下，必须促进循环经济战略，例如工业共生伙伴关系，其中公司将其他行业的废品用作原材料。为达到这个，有必要找到支持中小企业间工业共生合作的推动力。其中可能包括区域开发商和地方当局。这项研究的目的是调查工业共生在瑞典VästraGötaland地区的中小企业中是否已经普遍存在，并确定建立伙伴关系的障碍和动机。为此，进行了两个行业的案例研究：啤酒生产和蘑菇种植。通过现场访问和半结构化访谈收集信息，并将主要发现与文献综述相结合，然后提出新的工业共生机会。结果表明，一些啤酒和蘑菇生产商已经在使用工业共生。经济收益和更好的环境绩效是公司参与这些合作伙伴关系的主要动机。尽管如此，工业共生可以扩展到包括那些主要由于缺乏时间或知识而尚未分享浪费的公司。因此，研究表明，潜在的工业共生伙伴关系可以在短时间内实施，并被地方当局用来帮助中小型企业实现废物循环。未来的工作将考虑在中小企业中传播结果，并将该方法应用于在该地区运营的其他类型的行业，以发现其他IS潜在的合作伙伴关系。工业共生可以扩展到还包括那些由于时间或知识不足而尚未分享浪费的公司。因此，研究表明，潜在的工业共生伙伴关系可以在短时间内实施，并被地方当局用来帮助中小型企业实现废物循环。未来的工作将考虑在中小企业中传播结果，并将该方法应用于在该地区运营的其他类型的行业，以发现其他IS潜在的合作伙伴关系。工业共生可以扩展到还包括那些由于时间或知识不足而尚未分享浪费的公司。因此，研究表明，潜在的工业共生伙伴关系可以在短时间内实施，并被地方当局用来帮助中小型企业实现废物循环。未来的工作将考虑在中小企业中传播结果，并将该方法应用于在该地区运营的其他类型的行业，以发现其他IS潜在的合作伙伴关系。并由地方当局用来帮助中小企业实现废物的循环利用。未来的工作将考虑在中小企业中传播结果，并将该方法应用于在该地区运营的其他类型的行业，以发现其他IS潜在的合作伙伴关系。并由地方当局用来帮助中小企业实现废物的循环利用。未来的工作将考虑在中小企业中传播结果，并将该方法应用于在该地区运营的其他类型的行业，以发现其他IS潜在的合作伙伴关系。