Fuente: Sustainability - Revista científica (MDPI) Sustainability, Vol. 18, Pages 5547: Industrial Symbiosis as a Carbon-Centered Operational Strategy: Evidence from Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor
Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su18115547
Authors:
Sineenuch Kokanutaporn
Laddawan Rachuratchata
Eain Dray Aung
Nophea Sasaki

Industrial symbiosis is increasingly recognized as a carbon-centered operational strategy rather than only a waste-management practice, yet evidence from emerging economies remains limited. This study examines Thai Eastern Group Holdings (TEGH) in Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) to analyze how industrial symbiosis reorganizes resource flows, carbon management, and broader sustainable operations performance. Using sustainability and operational data from 2022 to 2024 together with comparative benchmarking, the study evaluates economic, environmental, social, and governance (EESG) outcomes. The findings show that TEGH’s integrated system, combining biogas production from palm oil mill effluent, wastewater recycling, and organic waste valorization, reduced GHG emissions by 19,271 tCO2e in 2024 while generating cost savings and improving resource efficiency. Benchmarking against Kalundborg and selected regional peers indicates comparatively favorable indicators in waste reuse, carbon intensity, and renewable energy payback, subject to boundary and data comparability limitations. The case also shows that supply chain inclusion and governance verification are integral to the durability of the model, with more than 44,000 smallholders engaged in traceable sourcing systems. The study concludes that industrial symbiosis can function as a carbon-centered operational strategy that aligns decarbonization, circularity, and institutional accountability, offering a potentially replicable pathway for low-carbon industrial transformation in comparable emerging economy contexts.