While SMEs contribute to growth, employment and rural development they also exert quite significant impacts on the environment. It is estimated that, in total, SMEs are responsible for 70% of all industrial pollution across the EU (EC Enterprise Directorate General, 2004). Though often under less scrutiny from environmental groups than larger corporations, SMEs are also under pressure for improved environmental performance. As large corporations are deciding to improve the environmental quality of their product they are including environmental performance in their buying criteria creating pressures for their suppliers, most often SMEs, to address environmental issues in a systematic and rigorous manner. Therefore, promotion of an environmental management system (EMS) whether formal or adapted in character may help address environmental impacts while also improving the socio-economic performance of SMEs. In addition, the performance of individual SMEs in relation to sustainable development can be further enhanced by analysing opportunities for network solutions to environmental and socio-economic problems. Identifying and using synergies and linkages between cooperating industries can be used to improve resource efficiency and minimise waste. These concepts are central to this project. This project adopted action research methods that emphasise the generation of practical knowledge in a local context and in partnership with practitioners (in this case representatives from the participating SMEs, the RWMO, UL and the EPA). As this project was concerned with company networks, it focused on the plurality of experiences and the capacity in the network as a possible driver for enriching the environmental performance of all participating companies. The project duration was 18 months. As far as possible the principles of IE were applied within the individual assessments and identification of collaboration opportunities. However, as the participating SMEs were geographically scattered, their operations and survival were so dynamic that it was possible only to commence the development of a functioning IE network in this time. One company moved operations to China, two companies closed down, one shed a large number of jobs and two others changed the nature of their business entirely during the project. Indeed, without planning from the stage of industrial park construction, membership of companies coming into parks and provision of support services, a functioning IE network is unlikely to arise in Ireland under such dynamic, uncertain conditions. The objectives of the project were as follows: 1 To establish a project Steering Committee which included representatives of the participating SMEs, policy makers, local community groups and researchers 2 To design, test and validate an environmental review document for SMEs and to provide guidance on legal responsibilities 3 To establish an environmental review procedure for SMEs 4 To identify environmental problems faced by individual SMEs and recommend potential environmental improvement options available to them individually and as a network 5 To carry out an EF analysis of the SMEs for the purpose of raising environmental awareness and to demonstrate how the implementation of best environmental practice scenarios can enhance the SME environmental performance 6 To calculate the EF reduction potential that might be achieved through the implementation of best environmental practice in specific areas of each of the SME activities 7 To assess the value of the EF as a tool for measuring sustainability in SMEs 8 To use the principles of IE to identify ways of improving the environmental performance of the individual SMEs and the network 9 To report on findings to individual companies, the EPA and industry bodies (as agreed by the EPA)

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O'Regan, B. Moles, R.   "Establishing an Eco-Industrial Network for Small to Medium-Sized Enterprises in the Mid-West Region". Associated datasets and digitial information objects connected to this resource are available at: Secure Archive For Environmental Research Data (SAFER) managed by Environmental Protection Agency Ireland https://eparesearch.epa.ie/safer/resource?id=abc15b24-436e-102c-b381-901ddd016b14 (Last Accessed: 2025-02-10)

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SAFER-Data Display URL	https://eparesearch.epa.ie/safer/iso19115/display?isoID=104
Resource Keywords	ecological footprint SME Small-to-Medium-Sized Enterprises Sustainable Development Eco-industrial network Mid-west Limerick Shannon
EPA/ERTDI/STRIVE Project Code	2004-SD-MS-18
EPA/ERTDI/STRIVE Project Theme	Socio-Economics
Resource Availability:	Public-Open
Limitations on the use of this Resource	The attachments to this resource are open access. You may freely download these digital resources. However, if any of the download resources are used in any publications, presentations, or other derived products (digital or otherwise) a proper acknowledgement and citation should be provided. A sample citation is provided on this system.
Number of Attached Files (Publicly and Openly Available for Download):	20
Project Start Date	Thursday 10th March 2005 (10-03-2005)
Earliest Recorded Date within any attached datasets or digital objects	Thursday 10th March 2005 (10-03-2005)
Most Recent Recorded Date within any attached datasets or digital objects	Sunday 10th September 2006 (10-09-2006)
Published on SAFER	Tuesday 3rd February 2009 (03-02-2009)
Date of Last Edit	Wednesday 31st July 2013 at 16:26:32 (31-07-2013)
Datasets or Files Updated On	Tuesday 10th March 2009 at 09:19:32 (10-03-2009)

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Description of Geographical Characteristics of This Project or Dataset
All companies that participated in this study were guaranteed confidentiality. Each company was assigned a letter, and is referred to as Company A, Company B, through to Company R. The companies were diverse in their activities and geographically dispersed throughout the region , so that there were both sectoral and location-specific issues to consider in terms of their individual performance and In total, 20 SMEs formally committed to the project, while 18 of these provided detailed data. These companies were from a diverse range of sectors, including packaging, plastic moulding, electronics, furniture production food, waste management and light engineering. They were located within a 43-km radius of Limerick City. Of the 20 companies, eight were located in Shannon, six of which were in Smithstown Industrial Estate and two of which were in the Shannon Free Zone. Seven companies were in Limerick City and the remaining five were located in rural County Limerick collaboration opportunities.

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The following is a list of projects, datasets, and resources on SAFER-Data from which users downloaded attachments from soon after downloading attachments from this resource Establishing an Eco-Industrial Network for Small to Medium-Sized Enterprises in the Mid-West Region. You can view the full description for projects, datasets, and resources by using the links supplied.

• Climate Change - Implementationof the Global Climate Observing System in Ireland View Full Metadata Description
• CO2 flux data and meteorological data from UCC Flux Sites View Full Metadata Description
• Energy crops in Ireland: An assessment of their potential contribution to sustainable agriculture, electricity and heat production View Full Metadata Description
• Economy wide material flow analysis and ecological footprint of Ireland View Full Metadata Description
• Elucidating the Impact of Aerosols on Cloud Physics and the North Atlantic Regional Climate (EIRE Climate) View Full Metadata Description

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