Fostering Industrial Symbiosis Through Sustainable Procurement Practices in the Turkish Textile Industry

This study's primary aim is to understand the role and interaction of various sustainability criteria within industrial symbiosis networks, and it embarks upon this task by way of the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method. This study seeks to establish the main driving forces and dependent factors that could affect the success and resiliency of these networks, enhancing sustainable industrial practices. A strong decision-making tool, DEMATEL is used in this study to visualize complex cause-and-effect relationships between sustainability criteria through a systematic matrix approach. Data was collected from experts around industrial symbiosis, covering diverse sectors for comprehensive sustainability criteria. The analysis quantitatively assesses influence and dependency among identified criteria, clearly depicting systemic interactions. It illustrates that the criteria mentioned, resilience in IS networks, adoption of innovative technologies, and optimization of material exchanges are important driving forces in the system that can put considerable influence on other criteria. Conversely, the criteria of waste reduction and environmental impact reduction are highly dependent and are greatly changed by the actions of these drivers. This study thus emphasizes the crucial balance between the influential and dependent criteria, which offers insights for designing targeted strategies to strengthen the weaker areas and weaken the strong drivers to boost overall system sustainability. This manuscript presents a unique application of the DEMATEL methodology in the Turkish textile sector; an application not previously explored in the country’s industry. Hence, mapping the complex cause-and-effect relationships connecting sustainability criteria in industrial symbiosis answers a great concern in the existing literature.