Analyzing material flow in Alborz industrial estate, Ghazvin, Iran

Industrial ecology and models such as material flow analysis make operational approaches in order to reuse produced waste as primary resources in other industrial units. In this study, using these concepts and the material flow model, the waste flow network between some of the units in Ghazvin industrial estate have been analyzed. 38 industrial units from the total 220 active units in the estate were visited and quantitative and qualitative information regarding the production process of the plant, waste production, and primary resource consumption was collected. According to the flow model being considered at the estate, a trade plan for 6 types of waste in the estate was presented. In total, 341.6 tons which equals 38% of the produced waste in these industrial units is reusable in this complex. To follow economic analysis in the raw waste, economic value stage was carried out which lead to a 1.43 million US dollar annual income and 256 thousand dollar saving in the loading and transport area. Finally, topics such as database, clustering, and location of industry in this estate were analyzed and discussed based on industrial ecology concepts.