From company to city: how industrial symbiosis creates circular energy systems 🏭 ➡️ 🏙️

Industrial symbiosis is the practice of neighbouring industries sharing energy, water, and material flows to reduce waste and increase efficiency. Instead of treating emissions or by-products as losses, companies exchange them as valuable inputs. Across Europe, such collaborations are becoming central to climate and circular-economy strategies, showing how industrial districts can operate more sustainably and competitively.

A circular energy system is created when surplus heat, renewable electricity, or recovered water from one facility is used to power or support others. These closed-loop designs strengthen regional resilience, lower carbon emissions, and reduce reliance on imported fuels. Successful examples across Denmark, the Netherlands, and Sweden demonstrate that integrated energy systems deliver both environmental and economic benefits.

This principle is at the core of the HURRICANE project, where ArcelorMittal Belgium works with local and international partners to explore how industrial waste heat can supply surrounding communities. By turning a single plant’s excess energy into a shared local resource, HURRICANE Project shows how industrial symbiosis can create cleaner, more circular, and future-proof regional heating systems.

With the help of other Hurricane partners: CRM Group, VITO, DBFZ Deutsches Biomasseforschungszentrum gemeinnützige GmbH, Università Politecnica delle Marche, PDMFC, HEATEN, FINEG, PC Sint-Jan-Baptist Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen, hashtag#CityZelzate hashtag#WarmtenetZelzate

hashtag#WasteHeatRecovery hashtag#DistrictHeating hashtag#EnergyTransition hashtag#IndustrialSymbiosis hashtag#HURRICANEproject hashtag#CircularEnergy hashtag#ClimateNeutralIndustry hashtag#SustainableCommunities hashtag#ArcelorMittalBelgium