What is the BASIS Project?
The Birmingham and Solihull Industrial Symbiosis Project, or BASIS, aims to create a diverse network of businesses across the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), with the aim of supporting their transition to become more resource efficient and cost-effective business.
The project is funded through the European Union’s ERDF framework and is led by Birmingham City Council. International Synergies is the primary delivery partner and will be responsible for the engagement with industry to provide resource efficiency support. The focus of the project will be working with SMEs and identifying opportunities to delivery industrial symbiosis benefits within the network, forming the mechanism for delivering the required project outputs of business assists (12 hours).
The Industrial Symbiosis approach seeks to work closely with SMEs to quantify their wastes and seek resource efficiency improvements that deliver financial savings. These underutilized resources can be process by-products, discarded waste materials, low grade energy, waste water discharges, logistics (empty vehicle movements), capacity (such as warehouse or office space) and shared expertise. Through the project’s delivery of one to one business support and attending business opportunity workshops, the aim is to connect industry in a way that one companies wasted resource becomes another’s valuable process input. These discreet new business opportunities will deliver substantial cost savings, generate sales from new markets and contribute towards creating an environmentally sustainable local economy.
Besides this profitable trading of waste resources, the ISL team can give free support in the following areas:
- Supporting applications for waste permits, licenses and exemptions from the Environment Agency
- Conducting compliance, waste, water and energy audits
- Providing consultancy support for the implementation of environmental management systems
- Providing staff training in environmental issues and management
- Signposting to available grants to financially aid the implementation of capital improvements
All business support under the BASIS project is fully funded by the GBSLEP, and free for local business at the point of use. SME’s located in the Birmingham and Solihull area, along with the transition regions of Lichfield, Tamworth, Burton on Trent, Uttoxeter, Cannock, Bromsgrove, Redditch and Wyre Forest areas should contact the local delivery team below for more details and to arrange a free initial consultation.
