Europe

Summary
NISP is International Synergies' most recognised project and remains the world's only national industrial symbiosis programme.

NISP originated as three pilot schemes in Scotland, West Midlands and Yorkshire & Humberside in 2003. Their success provided a clear evidence base to the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra), who in 2005 awarded International Synergies £27 million pounds over three years to roll out the programme across all nine English regions.

One of the reasons for the programme's overwhelming success in the UK is the way in which it is managed and delivered. NISP has a nationally coordinated operational focus that is underpinned by a local delivery structure. It is the NISP teams' knowledge and insight into specific local agendas on the economy and environment that enables the programme to have such a positive impact across the UK.

NISP is a business-led programme with over 14,000 participating industry members who form part of a unique network. Through the network, NISP identifies mutually profitable transactions between companies so that underused or undervalued resources (including energy, waste, water and logistics) are brought into productive use. NISP members comprise of micros, small and medium businesses (SMEs) and multinational/corporates from every industry sector.

Impact
NISP has enabled its UK business members to:

• divert 35 million tonnes of industrial waste from landfill
• generate £880 million in new sales
• reduce carbon emissions by 30 million tonnes
• cut costs by £780 million by reducing disposal, storage, transport and purchasing costs;
• reuse 1.8 million tonnes of hazardous waste
• create and safeguard 8,770 jobs
• save 48 million tonnes of virgin material
• save 47 million tonnes of industrial water

 
All figures have been independently verified and relate to programme results between April 2005 and March 2010 and relate to lifetime benefits.
 
Due to the success of NISP there has been an increasing appetite for industrial symbiosis worldwide. The programme is;

• Accredited by the European Commission as an Exemplar of Eco-Innovation through its Environmental Technologies Action Plan (ETAP, 2007).
• Cited as an example of 'Best Practice' in the European Union's Waste Framework Directive (2009) and the new Pro-Innovation call under FP7.
• Acknowledged as a "leading example of systemic innovation vital for future green growth" by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2010).
• Highlighted as 1 of 20 Worldwide Green Game Changing Innovations in a report commissioned by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) (WWF, 2010).
• Winner of Best Carbon Reduction project at edie.net Environmental Excellence Awards , (2010) and winner of the Global Environmental Impact Award from British Expertise International (2009).

England
In England there are nine local NISP teams - Yorkshire & Humber, North East, North West, East of England, East Midlands, West Midlands, London, South East and South West. This delivery structure ensures that the programme's aims can be aligned according to relevant local economic and environmental objectives and each of the teams are highly successful and have excellent, experienced and expert practitioners.

Scotland
NISP in Scotland has been operational since 2003 and was one of the three original pilot programmes. The region plays a key role in helping turn the government's vision for a 'Zero Waste' society into reality.

Between April 2007 and January 2011 NISP Scotland has prevented more than 308,000 tonnes of industry waste from being sent to landfill and collectively cut the carbon emissions of its 2,000+ business members by 137,000 tonnes. The programme has also generated £1.9 million cost savings for its members and additional sales to the value of £409,000.

Wales
Diverting waste from landfill is a major priority for the Welsh Assembly Government. The draft Waste Strategy for Wales outlines targets to achieve zero waste by 2050, with an interim target of 70% reuse and recycling of waste by 2025. These targets are linked in with Wales' Sustainable Development policy - One Wales: One Planet. NISP's work in Wales is closely aligned with these aims and the programme is already successfully working with industry across the country to make significant reductions in industrial wastes being sent to landfill.

Members across Wales range from SMEs (that make up 99% of the businesses in Wales) to large blue chip multinationals, including Dow Corning, Kronospan, UPM Kymmene, Kimberly Clark, Knauf Insulation, and RWE Power International.

Northern Ireland
NISP has been working closely with its funder, Invest Northern Ireland (INI), since February 2007 to deliver the country's waste strategy - Towards Resource Management - which emphasises the drive to achieve sustainable consumption and production, in turn, leading to improved resource efficiency across all business sectors.

NISP in Northern Ireland works with businesses of all sizes and across all industry sectors and has had particular success with the plastics, food & drink, engineering and construction sectors, all of which are vital to the local economy.

Since its launch, NISP in Northern Ireland's work has been instrumental in creating and safeguarding more than 65 jobs and helped its members save over £4.2 million. The programme has also worked with its members to reduce Northern Ireland's industrial carbon dioxide emissions by 120,000 tonnes and divert more than 80,000 tonnes of waste from landfill.