Industrial Symbiosis in Kalundborg, Denmark: A Quantitative Assessment of Economic and Environmental Aspects

Abstract

As a subdiscipline of industrial ecology, industrial symbiosis is concerned with resource optimization among colocated companies. The industrial symbiosis complex in Kalundborg, Denmark is the seminal example of industrial symbiosis in the industrial ecology literature. In spite of this, there has been no in‐depth quantitative analysis enabling more comprehensive understanding of economic and environmental performances connected to this case. In this article some of the central industrial symbiotic exchanges, involving water and steam, in Kalundborg are analyzed, using detailed economic and environmental data. It is found that both substantial and minor environmental benefits accrue from these industrial symbiosis exchanges and that economic motivation often is connected to upstream or downstream operational performance and not directly associated with the value of the exchanged byproduct or waste itself. It is concluded that industrial symbiosis, as viewed from a company perspective, has to be understood both in terms of individual economic and environmental performance, and as a more collective approach to industrial sustainability.

Semantic approach for pre-assessment of environmental indicators in Industrial Symbiosis

“…emission of other gasses including green-house-gasses (GHG) in general or health effects and social perception) and effectiveness in IS practice, and along some previous studies (Chertow, Lombardi 2005, Jacobsen 2006b, Martin, Eklund 2011, Martin et al 2012, Mattila et al 2012) and current practice in IS . Still, the proposed framework allows for further expansion.…”

“…Although the practice of IS has demonstrated the need for evaluating these benefits either in the process of screening of impending options or monitoring the operation of symbiotic networks, and despite of some attempts to quantify them ( Van Berkel 2010, Mattila, Pakarinen & Sokka 2010, Berkel et al 2009), no unified metrics or methods for calculating concomitant indicators has been proposed (Eckelman, Chertow 2009, Jacobsen 2006a). Consequently, evaluation of IS networks performance has been identified as deficient (Martin et al 2012).…”

Quantitative Assessment of Urban and Industrial Symbiosis in Kawasaki, Japan

“…Use of treated wastewater as cooling water at the power station avoids effluent discharges of some 161 ML/day and saves at least USD 425 000/year. • In Kalundborg (Denmark (27)) three main water exchanges have substituted 2.8 GL/year groundwater with surface water and subsequently achieved 0.5 GL/ year conservation of surface water with operational savings of some 27.6 million DKK (∼3.5 million USD/ year). The supply of waste heat as steam, hot water, and cooling water for various applications realizes a saving of 1.3 million GJ/year compared to stand-alone heat production.…”

Material Reutilization Cycles Across Industries and Production Lines

“…As a sub-discipline of IE, Industrial Symbiosis is concerned with resource optimization among collocated companies (Jacobsen 2006). Industrial Symbiosis brings together traditionally separate industries into a collective approach for competitive advantage involving physical exchange of materials, energy, water, and/or by-products (Chertow 2000).…”

“…Results have shown that significant environmental savings are related to Industrial Symbiosis in Kalundborg (Jacobsen 2006). For example, three million m 3 of water could be saved through recycling and reuse.…”