DENMARK’S FIRST SYMBIOSIS CENTER

When the Regional Symbiosis Center was started as a project in 2011, very little attention was paid to resource reutilisation in industrial symbioses, which was only known to a select group. And very few companies had seen the possibility of a commercial approach to resource partnerships.

The background to the project was therefore to create a center that could facilitate symbiosis collaborations and spread the model to other business clusters, with the aim of achieving benefits corresponding to those achieved in the Kalundborg Symbiosis.

The project had two overarching purposes:

To support the spreading of the symbiosis concept from the Kalundborg Symbiosis to the rest of Region Zealand – including contributing to the identification of new residual fractions and side streams.

To make the symbiosis concept visible and to ensure that the unique approach to environmental and commercial reutilisation of energy, water and residual fractions was on the agenda.

Users of the Regional Symbiosis Center evaluate that the project has created savings for the environment, increased competitiveness among companies and helped to minimise operating costs, thereby maintaining industrial production in the area. The Regional Symbiosis Center and the symbioses assist in keeping companies and thereby jobs in the area. In our knowledge base, you can read the final evaluation of the project.

PARTNERS:

The Regional Symbiosis Center was established and run by Kalundborg, Holbæk and Odsherred municipalities with financing from the EU’s Regional Fund and Growth Forum Zealand. The total project budget was around DKK 12m.

PERIOD:

From 2011 until the end of 2014