Across Europe, thousands of industrial companies release unused heat into the air and water. This “waste heat” is one of Europe’s largest untapped energy resources. Under the revised Energy Efficiency Directive (EED III, 2023/1791), supported by the Renewable Energy Directive (RED III, 2023/2413), EU policy now requires industries to reuse recoverable heat wherever technically and economically feasible. Countries like Denmark and the Netherlands already show that integrating industrial heat into district heating networks is both possible and scalable — paving the way for broader European adoption.

Waste heat recovery involves capturing surplus heat from, for example, industrial processes, power plants, and data centres, and delivering it through insulated pipelines to nearby homes, public buildings, and other (industrial) businesses. Instead of burning gas or relying on individual boilers, neighbourhoods can be heated by energy that would otherwise be lost. This approach strengthens energy efficiency, reduces fuel consumption, and lowers emissions — all essential steps in Europe’s path to climate neutrality.

Recovering industrial heat brings strong local benefits: cleaner air, reduced reliance on imported fossil fuels, and more stable energy costs for communities. It also supports Europe’s circular economy by transforming industrial by-products into valuable local resources. This concept is at the heart of the HURRICANE Project, which explores using waste heat from ArcelorMittal Belgium in Ghent to develop a future-proof heat network for the region and demonstrate how industrial symbiosis can accelerate Europe’s green transition.

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