Inter-supply Chain Recycling of Residues

Abstract

The absence of relationships – or, worse, the presence of conflicting ones – between segments of various compartmentalized agri-chains that coexist in territories hinders the sustainable development of these agri-chains, and, more broadly, of the territories concerned. This chapter discusses how creating links to the territory by identifying synergies between these agri-chains or with other supply chains could help overcome this limitation. It also presents a set of analyses and conceptions of relationships between local segments of distinct agri-chains using socio-economic analyses and flow analyses. Although there do exist examples of spontaneous inter-supply chain recycling links, they are usually very short circuits, and are often opportunistic and unstable. Moreover, to this organizational instability can be added a less than optimal extraction of value from agricultural output. The analyses presented here suggest that significant potential for linkages between specialized segments of separate supply chains remains untapped, and this at different geographical scales. They also emphasize the importance of organization and coordination, which partly explains why exchanges at supra-farm scales develop rarely without external intervention. We can, however, use techniques to create or strengthen networks between actors from relatively compartmentalized segments on the basis of discovered mutual interests. It is a matter of encouraging industrial symbiosis. In this case, inter-supply chain relationships are seen as value chains that are short, localized, circular, and transversal. A general rule seems to emerge: the more one endeavours to tailor these relationships to contribute to sustainable development, the more complicated they become and the more difficult to build.