Material and energy flow management tools overview for circular economy

Summary

With the growing need for better resource management, Industrial and Territorial Ecology* (ITE) initiatives are set to intensify. These admittedly complex initiatives should be facilitated by the massive increase in access to data that we have seen in recent years (new digital technologies, blockchain, etc.). Against this backdrop, RECORD has produced an international mapping of software tools that facilitate these optimisations, particularly those that identify material and energy synergies. 50 tools have been analysed and presented in the form of fact sheets. More detailed work was carried out on 12 of them. The analysis of this software, which is useful for all those involved in EIT projects in companies or local authorities, reveals a more global understanding of the challenges of EIT and sustainable industry.

* The objectives of EIT are to optimise the use of resources (materials and energy) mobilised by industrial sites and local players, in particular through the substitution of raw materials by co-products or waste, the pooling of certain assets or the grouping of entities to access certain services.