Leading initiative reduces waste and saves money
SMILE Resource Exchange is Ireland’s national industrial symbiosis programme, providing a free platform for businesses to connect and identify synergies where a waste in one business can be a resource in another.
Industrial symbiosis is described as ‘the sharing of services, utility and by-product resources among industries in order to add value, reduce costs and improve the environment’. The SMILE programme is assisting business with preventing waste, increasing reuse and closing the loop to ensure a move towards a circular economy.
SMILE was identified and established in 2010 by Macroom E, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cork County Council. The formation of SMILE came about as a result of a survey by Macroom E of the business users of the Waste Matchers website (www.wastematchers.com) which was carried out in September 2009.
SMILE was the first event of its kind, namely a business resource networking forum, to be held in the Republic of Ireland.
Following the pilot in Cork, the programme expanded into Limerick, Clare and Kerry in October 2011 and then to Dublin in September 2012. In November 2014 the service was made available to businesses throughout the Republic of Ireland and launched by An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny as a national programme. Partners of the programme include the Environmental Protection Agency, both environmental and economic development sections in Cork County & City Councils, the Local Enterprise Offices, and the Waste Management Regions.
SMILE uses a diversified approach to deliver the programme to organisations of all sizes and from all sectors which includes the website, the events and technical assistance. The website provides an online platform for businesses to connect. The events on the other hand provide a platform for business to connect face to face and both ofo these platforms provide businessesbusint to identify with andan opportunitycreate synergies. e
While the event and website s platforms work for the smallers type synergies, it was recognised, after reviewing other European industrial symbiosis programmes, that in order to identify larger synergies it was necessary to engage the services of consultants with technicalt expertise.
Following a pilot in 2015 whichw has been further developed in 2016, SMILE have engaged the services of three consultants who now work closely with businesses across the three waste management regions in Ireland.
Today over 1,400 businesses are actively engaging and benefiting from the programme. Since its inception in 2010, 299 successful synergies have been recorded, equating to an estimated 8,000+ tonnes of material and a combined cost saving for businesses of over €2.1 million.
SMILE aims keep increasing the business users, the number of synergies, the tonnages of materials reused and assist with implementing the necessary changes on the waste legislation to decrease the barriers in synergies taking place.