The visit gave participants an opportunity to see how industrial symbiosis works in practice 鈥� and what it takes for companies and other organisations to share resources and develop new forms of collaboration.
鈥淚 usually describe it as the science and practice of what is left over,鈥� says Mats Eklund, Professor at Link枚ping University.
He has worked with industrial symbiosis at H盲ndel枚 since 2007. The basic idea is that companies focus on their core business, while public authorities focus on their respective responsibilities. As a result, resources can be left underutilised.
鈥淚nstead of talking about waste, we can think of underutilised resources. They may be in the wrong place, available at the wrong time or of the wrong quality,鈥� says Mats Eklund.
An industrial area where operations are interconnected
Teiksma Buseva
At H盲ndel枚, the principle can be seen in the tangible flows between companies.
E.ON鈥檚 combined heat and power plant receives, among other things, waste and residual products from the forestry industry. The energy produced at the plant is used not only for electricity and district heating. Steam is also supplied to the nearby biorefinery.
The biorefinery primarily uses wheat as a raw material. Production has developed from ethanol to include several different products. Since 2014, carbon dioxide from the process has been captured for use in the food industry, while a by-product of ethanol production is used as animal feed. Since 2023, the site has also produced gluten concentrate for the food industry.
Teiksma Buseva
For E.ON, collaboration with nearby industry means, among other things, that the combined heat and power plant can remain in operation during the summer. Many such plants reduce or stop production when demand for district heating falls. At H盲ndel枚, the boilers continue to operate because industry requires steam all year round.
鈥淒uring the summer, we are more of a process industry than a combined heat and power plant,鈥� says Mattias Redeborn, Plant Manager at E.ON.
The challenge is not only technical
Industrial symbiosis is not only about exchanging residual products. Companies can also share resources such as water and other infrastructure, as well as knowledge and information.
Mats Eklund points out that many of the barriers are not primarily technical. Companies need to understand each other鈥檚 operations, have opportunities to meet and build enough trust to collaborate.
This is also reflected in how the work at H盲ndel枚 has been organised.
Ian Hamilton works to coordinate collaboration within H盲ndel枚 Eco-Industrial Park. Seven organisations are represented in its steering group. Experience has shown, however, that discussing opportunities in meetings is not enough. The way of working has therefore changed, with participating organisations taking responsibility for concrete initiatives and driving them forward.
Teiksma Buseva
Ian听Hamilton and Mats Eklund have worked together for many years on industrial symbiosis and on developing collaboration at H盲ndel枚.
鈥淢eetings are not the goal. It is only when an organisation takes ownership and the right expertise is brought together that an opportunity can develop into a concrete development track,鈥� says Ian Hamilton.
Mattias Redeborn also sees the coordinating role as important for the companies.
鈥淚f Ian did not invite us to meetings, organise visits and keep the work moving forward, much of this would not get done. I simply do not have the capacity to prioritise it in my day-to-day work,鈥� he says.
There are clear parallels with the Graduate School in Energy Systems. The graduate school is interdisciplinary, bringing together PhD students and supervisors from different disciplines. At H盲ndel枚, participants could recognise the same need to work across different fields of expertise, discuss shared challenges and drive development forward together.
Six years to reach the next step
Collaboration also takes time.
More structured work within HEIP began in 2020, building on earlier preparatory work involving the municipality and industry. The collaboration is now moving to the next stage: from a shared forum and identified opportunities to concrete development tracks in which the participating organisations themselves take responsibility for moving the work forward.
One issue high on the agenda is water. Instead of automatically using drinking water or fresh process water for every operation, the partners are exploring whether water could be used in several stages 鈥� passing from one industry to another depending on the quality requirements of each process.
Ian Hamilton notes that it has taken around six years to reach the point where the organisations are ready to address these issues in a more operational way.
More flows can be connected
Collaboration at H盲ndel枚 continues to develop. E.ON sees opportunities to make use of waste heat from other operations and is also working on plans to capture carbon dioxide from waste incineration.
But new solutions also depend on the organisations understanding each other鈥檚 needs and resources. For Mats Eklund, industrial symbiosis is ultimately about changing the perspective:
鈥淗ow can we create the greatest value from what we already have?鈥�
Teiksma Buseva
The Graduate School in Energy Systems meets twice a year, for a spring meeting and an autumn meeting. As part of this year鈥檚 autumn meeting, the Collaboration Forum organised a study visit to H盲ndel枚 Eco-Industrial Park (HEIP) in Norrk枚ping.
