Europe

Summary
The Bristol Port Estate and Vicinity Initiative (BPE&VI) brings together local businesses to identify opportunities for sustainable resource management. The primary objective of the initiative is to gain economic advantage for the companies involved by improving the management of materials, energy, water, logistics, facilities, land and expertise. Sixty or more businesses from Royal Portbury Dock to Severn Beach, large and small, and representing diverse sectors are actively involved so far. They have welcomed the initiative as a platform for networking and information exchange and many have achieved significant cost savings and other benefits including The Bristol Port Company.
 
Information is shared and exchanged through attending quarterly events, an annual NISP ‘Quick Wins’ workshop, participating in the Shared Workspace online forum and supporting initiatives such as Shared Resource Facilities across the area. Several companies have hosted events to date including Lafarge Plasterboard, D S Smith Packaging, The Bristol Port Company, GENeco and Warburtons.

A Champions Group has also been established to provide additional guidance and leadership to take the initiative forward. Support and facilitation for the businesses and the Initiative is provided by the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (NISP), Robbee Smole, and others including Business Link, Bristol Green Capital, and the Environment Agency.

Impact
Since the start of the project, companies have benefitted by sharing best practice and contacts with other local businesses. This has lead to significant savings being realised by finding more sustainable and cost effective uses for specific resources. We have been successful in finding alternative outlets for a range of materials including coal sweepings, expanded clay, dry mortar, wood waste, mixed packaging streams, which would otherwise be destined for expensive disposal to landfill.

A total of 37,000 tonnes of waste have been diverted from landfill with an associated cost saving of 287,000 pounds. These successful matches between companies have also led to a reduction in CO2 levels of 10,400 tonnes.

Companies have also been able to share experiences and information on a range of subjects including health and safety issues, environmental management systems, resource efficiency, sources of funding available.

The initiative provides a good example of how the principles of industrial symbiosis can be applied to a specific area to gain tangible benefits for the local economy.