Secondary raw materials through Industrial Symbiosis

Industrial Symbiosis is an innovative approach that brings together companies from all business sectors with the aim of improving cross industry resource efficiency through the commercial trading of materials, energy and water and sharing assets, logistics and expertise. Therefore, is the process by which waste or by-products of one industry or industrial process become the raw material for another. Applying this scenario allows materials to be used more sustainably and helps create a circular economy (European green capital award, 2018).

SYMBIOSIS project has an integrated approach to the management and utilization of organic residues. In this direction some waste from a production process that would end up into landfills, now with industrial symbiosis they will be used by another company and thus they will become secondary raw materials. Thus, raw materials are required to a lesser extent and the landfilling of waste is reduced. Also, materials that would otherwise be discarded have value and thus remain economically valuable for longer than in traditional industrial systems. For example, the ‘users’ of biowaste e.g. fodder, district heating, bioenergy, fertilizer, greenhouses etc. companies and agricultural processing businesses are very much interested to find and use those wastes either as a raw material or as a fuel to their activities.

Resource efficiency is an integral part of the circular economy strategy of supplier industries to agriculture. Secondly, the strength of a supplier industry often lies in its ability to turn secondary raw materials into resources that are at least of equivalent quality of resources resulting from primary production. Not letting any resource go to waste in the fertilizer, food and feed chain is a strength that deserves more recognition, as it is the essence of a sustainable bioeconomy.

According to European Food Sustainable Consumption & Production Round Table (2018), the recovery and re-use of nutrients from various waste streams is a major focus area of the fertilizer industry. Recovered materials are injected back into the economy as ‘secondary raw materials’ that can be traded and shipped just like primary raw materials. European fertilizer manufacturers in Europe are playing an active role in research and innovation to recover and recycle valuable mineral components from organic waste streams and to integrate them into their production processes. Substantial research and testing is being carried out to find new ways to recycle nutrients, especially phosphates, from waste streams into high quality mineral fertilizers.

The European Circular Economy package contains measures to address the whole materials cycle from production to consumption through to waste management and the use of secondary raw materials, with the aim of contributing to closing the loop of product lifecycles through greater recycling and re-use. In addition to the industries, the farmer’s interest in sustainability will have an impact on his choices since he has no reason to reject a value-added product. This is why, by adapting market requirements, products that do not meet the standards set by the law or the market and which cannot be used directly for human consumption are used in food production processes.

Therefore, an essential element of the transition to a circular economy is a well-functioning market for secondary raw materials. LIFE projects have shown how to establish and stimulate such markets. Not only does the use of secondary materials go a long way to addressing major environmental challenges, it is also a means of ensuring a more secure supply of materials, making Europe more resilient to global pressures on resources. Secondary raw materials are not widely used, but with improved waste management practices, the quantity and quality of such materials could increase to the levels that would be required by different sectors of the economy (Environment directorate-general of European commission, 2017).

Advantages of circular economy regarding raw materials are shown in the article of Wiebe et al. (2019); “A more circular economy could reduce global levels of raw material extraction by 10% by 2030, a new study suggests. It could also drive a slight increase in overall employment levels, but the types of jobs available would change significantly, moving away from low- and medium-skilled work in the manufacturing and mining sectors and opening up more opportunities for medium and high-skilled jobs in the service sector.”

Sources

• Environment directorate-general of European commission (2017). LIFE and the Circular Economy. Publications Office of the European Union: Luxembourg.
• European Food Sustainable Consumption & Production Round Table (EFSC & PRT) (2018). Enhancing the contribution of the agri-food value chain to the circular economy. Version 1.0, 19 February 2018.
• European green capital award (2018). http://ec.europa.eu/environment/europeangreencapital/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/good-practice-report-european-green-capital-award-2018.pdf
• Wiebe, K.S., Harsdorff, M., Montt, G., Simas, M.S. and Wood, R. (2019) Global Circular Economy Scenario in a Multiregional Input-Output Framework. Environmental Science and Technology. 53 (11): 6362–6373. DOI:10.1021/acs.est.9b01 208.

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union, the participating countries and the Managing Authority.