Circular economy What is industrial and territorial ecology

Industrial and territorial ecology is regulated by the law of 17 August 2015. It consists of defining a geographical perimeter in which local economic actors will optimise the flow of materials, energy and water, by implementing joint actions and pooling these resources.

For a territory, the aim is to bring all its actors to conceive another way of producing and consuming by pooling and cooperating to make savings.

What are the benefits of implementing an industrial and territorial ecology project?

It is one of the means of application of the circular economy which acts on the supply side and on the economic actors.

The benefits for a territory are of several kinds:

  • Improving the competitiveness of local businesses;
  • Consolidating or developing local jobs;
  • Strengthen relations between all the players (local authorities, companies, etc.);
  • Increasing the attractiveness and enhancing the value of local resources.


The industrial and territorial ecology approach can be undertaken on very different scales: between two companies, on a business park, a municipality, a community of municipalities, a regional nature park, etc.

Industrial and territorial ecology can be applied in two ways:

  • Substitution synergies, which concern the recovery and exchange of materials and energy between entities (heat recovery, waste recovery through methanisation, wastewater reuse, chemical product exchanges, etc.);
  • Mutualisation synergies based on common supplies (raw materials, finished and semi-finished products), common services (mutualised waste collection, inter-company canteens or crèches, etc.) and sharing of equipment or resources (job sharing, etc.).

Thus, industrial and territorial ecology represents strong challenges for a territory and its companies. It makes it possible to reduce environmental impacts, to contribute to the creation of new activities and jobs as well as to bring together the various economic actors around mutualisations. It is part of a sustainable economic and social development approach for a territory.

AD FINE supports you in the construction and implementation of an industrial and territorial ecology approach

For 7 years, AD FINE and its partner Echelles & Territoires have been combining their skills to develop a unique know-how in the field of circular economy and industrial and territorial ecology.

Our teams from engineering and social sciences have built a fertile dialogue between :

  • Technical expertise in flow, energy and environmental management;
  • Fundamental knowledge of geography, political science and regional planning;
  • Animation and project management techniques.


These synergies between knowledge and expertise and the resulting cross-disciplinary tools enable us to address all the stakeholders in an EIT approach with precision in order to provide individual and collective added value.

The group is therefore as comfortable with companies (flow analysis, company strategy, economic model, etc.) as with institutional players at various levels (business park, Regional Nature Park, Community of Municipalities, Departmental Council, Regional Council, etc.).

Our intervention thus takes on its full meaning in the perspective of the EIT, whose operational implementation requires a technical requirement as well as the ability to build, mobilise and lead groups.

Aware of the constraints of TIS projects and in particular the need for efficiency in meetings and information gathering, our group relies on modern collaborative tools in order to work efficiently in teams and on dynamic mapping tools in order to give relief to the information and facilitate its capitalisation and sharing.

For more information on industrial and territorial ecology and its implementation, contact our teams.  They will inform you and co-construct your project with you.

AD FINE