How to promote industrial park recycling transformation in China: An analytic framework based on critical material flow

As an important conduit of industrial development, industrial parks have contributed significantly to economic development, particularly through the construction of eco-industrial parks (EIPs). With the increase in the number and type of parks, industrial park recycling transformation (IPRT) has been pivotal in developing the circular economy concept at the regional level in China. Compared with EIPs, this study identifies the characteristics of IPRT as green, cyclic, efficient, shared, and sustainable. To effectively explore how to promote IPRT development, the concept of critical material flow with material flow analysis is introduced to trace materials that are critical to high consumption areas with significant environmental impacts. The paper also suggests that cleaner production audits of enterprises can provide a basis for critical material flow analysis. Analysis of critical material flow pathways can facilitate the establishment of reverse logistics, which is important for achieving closed-loop IPRT through imitation of natural ecosystem cycles. In addition, an information system and database management platform are required to support critical material flow analysis in IPRT. Using a case study of the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area, the findings reveal that IPRT can be promoted from enterprises at the micro-level to parks at the macro-level based on critical material flow analysis. These results provide a methodological and practical reference for improving the stability of the industrial symbiosis of EIPs and contribute to IPRT research. Moreover, an analytic framework is provided that demonstrates how to promote IPRT in practice.