The Global Summit

The Kalundborg Centre for Industrial Symbiosis is a project, basis financed by the Symbiosis partners. The fields of responsibility of the Symbiosis Centre are as follows:

• Collection of information on the Industrial Symbiosis and other examples of industrial ecology
• Communication of experience from the Symbiosis Project
• Organisation of visits and study tours on the Symbiosis
• Co-ordination of studies on the Industrial Symbiosis
• Consultation about new symbiosis projects
• Contribution to forming new symbiosis projects

Industrial Symbiosis

Symbiosis means co-existence between diverse organisms in which each may benefit from the other. In this context, the term is applied about the industrial co-operation taking place in Kalundborg between a number of companies and Kalundborg Municipality, all of which exploit each otherís residual or by-products mutually.

The Symbiosis co-operation has developed spontaneously over a number of decades and today comprises some 20 projects. The exchange of residual products between the companies is laid out in the diagram.


Source: Industrial Symbiosis, The Kalundborg Institute for Industrial Symbiosis

Criteria for Symbiosis

The philosophy behind the Industrial Symbiosis can be used to advantage in other areas of industry. The Kalundborg experience, however, demonstrates that a number of conditions must be fulfilled:

The companies must fit each other

An industrial symbiosis can only work, given the right composition of industries in one area. One companyís residual products must take the place of another companyís raw material. Diversity within the local industrial structure is therefore an important must in an industrial symbiosis.

The companies must be located near each other

The physical distance between the individual companies is of great importance. The transport of residual products over large distances is seldom profitable which means that the distance must be as short as possible. Experience from Kalundborg demonstrates that the geographical distance is the most important parameter when energy is exchanged between the companies. Other by-products can be transported to advantage over larger distances.

There must be openness between the companies

Today the basis of the Symbiosis co-operation of Kalundborg is openness, communication and mutual trust between the partners. The Kalundborg companies are located in a small community that has helped establish fine conditions for open and intimate working relations.

The Industrial Symbiosis co-operation in Kalundborg is unique in the world of today. Only the right composition of companies in a local area may provide the basis of sustainable projects. The more companies involved, the greater the opportunity for symbiosis, and thus the potential for reducing resource consumption and environmental strain. In Kalundborg, the Symbiosis has been built around a network of 8 partners. That explains why the Industrial Symbiosis has aroused international interest from most corners of the world.