Kalundborg Municipality has approximately 20,000 inhabitants, and its network is the most published example of Industrial Symbiosis. The history of Kalundborg Industrial Symbiosis activities began in 1961 when a project was developed and implemented to use surface water from Lake Tisso for a new oil refinery in order to save the limited supplies of ground water. The City of Kalundborg took the responsibility for building the pipeline while the refinery financed it. Starting from this initial collaboration, a number of other collaborative projects were subsequently introduced and the number of partners gradually increased.
By the end of the 1980's, the partners realised that they had effectively "self-organised" into what is probably the best-known example of Industrial Symbiosis. The material exchanges in the Kalundborg region include: conservation of natural and financial resources; reduction in production, material, energy, insurance and treatment costs and liabilities; improved operating efficiency; quality control; improved health of the local population and public image; and realisation of potential income through the sale of by-products and waste materials (Ehrenfeld et al. 1997; Jacobsen 2003).
The following regional synergy examples are documented in this database:
By-Product Synergies
- Reuse of Fly Ash from Power Station
- Reuse of Chemical Gypsum from Power Plant
- Use of Biosludge from Wastewater Treatment Plant for Bioremediation
- Use of Organic By-Products for Farming
Utility Synergies
More information about regional synergies in Kalundborg can be found on:
We would be interested to learn from other case study examples that could be added to this database:
This webpage was last modified on 8 December 2006.
Disclaimer: The synergy information is provided for general use and although we believe all data to be correct, CSRP can accept no responsibility for the accuracy of the information. All presented case-study examples are retrieved from publicly available resources.