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How are we engaging in symbiosis?

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

Aage Vestergaard Larsen A/S has both the capacity and expertise within plastics recycling to make them a significant potential partner in Aalborg Symbiosis. It is very advantageous in terms of traceability, ensuring that the plastic does not end up as waste elsewhere, but is actually recycled. Additionally, Aage Vestergaard Larsen A/S also produces high-quality pellets for moulding new plastic products from the material.

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

The cement producer Aalborg Portland is the oldest link in the industrial symbiosis network in Aalborg. Over the years, Aalborg Portland has participated in several important symbioses as illustrated on the map.

Symbiosis between Aalborg Portland and Port of Aalborg.

In this symbiosis, Aalborg Portland receives purified sand from the Port of Aalborg. The sand is derived from the regular dredging of the Limfjord, which is necessary to maintain access for shipping in the fjord. Since sand, combined with lime, is the principle raw material in grey cement production, the sand is used in Aalborg Portland’s cement production. Prior to this collaboration, the purified sand was dumped into the sea. The quantities of purified sand vary over the year depending on weather conditions. In 2019 just over 150,000 tonnes of sand were recycled.

Symbiosis between Aalborg Portland and Nordjyllands Power Station.

This is a two-way symbiosis, whereby Aalborg Portland delivers lime sludge to Nordjyllands Power Station and receive gypsum in return. Lime sludge is a by-product of cement production, generated at Aalborg Portland when lime is mined from the limestone quarry. The lime sludge is used at Nordjyllands Power Station for flue gas treatment. The flue gas treatment process generates gypsum of a sufficient quality to be used in cement production at Aalborg Portland.

Energy symbiosis

Aalborg Portland is a key player in the energy symbiosis. Aalborg Portland currently supplies surplus heat to Aalborg Utilities, providing district heating for approx. 30,000 households in Aalborg Municipality. However, this figure is expected to increase to 50,0000 households in the future, a target that Aalborg Portland is working towards through a new supplementary agreement with Aalborg Utilities.

Symbiosis between Aalborg Portland and the Wastewater Treatment Plants

Aalborg Portland is also involved in a symbiosis with the wastewater treatment plants East and West.  The wastewater plants have a number of residual products in the form of sludge and materials from screening (toilet paper, etc.). As part of the symbiosis, these residuals are processed at a sludge drying plant and then sent to Aalborg Portland to be used as fuel in cement production. Approximately 3,000 tonnes were recycled in 2019.

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

As part of the Sustainable Synergies project, APSV has been exploring opportunities for recycling Aluzinc offcuts from NB Ventilation for use in the company’s production of cladding. The symbiosis between APSV and NB Ventilation is a classic exchange of materials, by which the scrap and waste from one production can be reused by another company. The material is galvanised steel plate, which is corrosion resistant and durable. NB Ventilation annually discards a significant quantity of Aluzinc scrap. Supply of the residual quantities negates the purchase of new Aluzinc sheets, as well as the transport from China. Moreover, APSV also saves resources because their residual product no longer has to be remelted. Transport of material for remelting is avoided, in which the corrosion-resistant alloy is also lost.

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

Aalborg Recycling is a key enterprise in two symbioses around plastic recycling. One is an ambitious collection and processing of agricultural foil. This is quite a challenging process, as the plastic resource is mixed with soil and spread out geographically. Aalborg Recycling is establishing a production plant for this process. The potential environmental benefit of this form of recycling is enormous, as huge quantities of agricultural foil are currently not being recycled.

In the other symbiosis, plastic sheets are collected at Aalborg Recycling with a view to becoming new plastic of similarly high quality. The quantities of plastic sheets are so small that strong collaboration between companies is needed for it to be feasible. Now they shall be collected with a view to recycling them.

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

Energy symbiosis

Aalborg Utilities is a key enterprise in energy symbiosis, whereby surplus heat from several local companies accounts for an increasing proportion of the district heating. The use of surplus heat that would otherwise be wasted reduces primary energy consumption in heat production and affords economic and environmental benefits. Aalborg Utilities is continuously assessing, which companies with surplus heat can participate and remains in ongoing dialogue with potential contributors. Utilization of surplus heat is one of several methods that Aalborg Utilities employs to reduce the use of fossil fuels, enabling district heating supply to be derived from completely green energy by 2028.

District cooling

However, Aalborg Utilities’ role in Industrial Symbiosis Aalborg extends beyond collaboration with local companies that contribute to greener district heating. Aalborg Utilities also collaborates with Aalborg Portland and the new University Hospital in Aalborg to provide a sustainable alternative to traditional cooling systems. District cooling shall avail of the constantly cold water of Aalborg Portland’s limestone quarry to cool the hospital buildings. Cooling of the hospital is an important step in developing comprehensive district cooling systems in Aalborg. More and more companies in Aalborg are expected to receive district cooling in the future.

Nordjyllands Power Station and Aalborg Portland: Symbioses based on fly ash, lime sludge and gypsum

” Nordjyllands Power Station”, one of the companies in Aalborg Utilities, is involved in numerous symbioses that extend beyond district heating and cooling.

Such symbioses include fly ash (a residual of incineration at the power plant) used by various companies in the area. Instead of dispatching this by-product to landfill, it is used in Aalborg Portland’s cement production. The asphalt manufacturer Colas Denmark also receives fly ash from the power plant in Aalborg. E-mineral is the company responsible for the nationwide trade of the by-product from power plants. In another two-way symbiosis, Nordjyllands Power Plant receives lime sludge from Aalborg Portland and delivers gypsum back to them. Lime sludge is a by-product of cement production generated by Aalborg Portland’s mining of lime from their limestone quarry. The lime sludge is used at Nordjyllands Power Station for flue gas treatment. The flue gas treatment process generates gypsum of a sufficient quality to be used in cement production at Aalborg Portland.

Water symbiosis with the agricultural sector

Finally, Nordjyllands Power Station is also involved in a symbiosis with the agricultural sector in the area. Previously, surplus water from the fields was pumped into the Limfjord. Now around 120,000 m3 of water is collected and transported through a complex pipe system to Nordjyllands Power Station, where it is used in the gypsum production process. Consequently, the surplus water replaces groundwater in the process.

That is not all

Aalborg Utilities is also engaged in a number of other symbioses within other supply industries. Return to the map to read more.

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

Wastewater Treatment Plant East together with Wastewater Treatment Plant West engages in symbiosis with Aalborg Portland, Reno Nord and Kingo Recycling respectively. The wastewater treatment plants in Aalborg East and West have numerous residual products in the form of dried sludge, screened waste (cloths, bandages, condoms, etc.) and sand. The combined surplus sludge from both plants is fed into the plants’ digesters to be used in biogas production. The digested sludge is subsequently dewatered and delivered to the sludge drying plant to be dried and become biogranulate. The biogranulate is sent to Aalborg Portland, where it is utilized as biofuel, substituting coal and petroleum coke. It also substitutes raw materials in cement production via the ash fraction. Aalborg Utilities supplies around 3.3 to 4 tonnes of biogranulate to Aalborg Portland annually. Screened waste is delivered to Reno Nord, where it is incinerated to produce district heating. The sand is collected by Kingo Recycling, sanitised, and subsequently used in noise barriers.

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

Wastewater Treatment Plant West and Wastewater Treatment Plant East are engaged in a joint symbiosis with both Aalborg Portland, Reno Nord and Kingo Recycling. Residual products from the wastewater treatment plants in Aalborg comprise dried sludge, screened materials (cloths, bandages, condoms, etc.) and sand. Biogas is produced from the total surplus sludge production from both plants, which is fed to the plants’ digesters when it is separated from the wastewater. The digested sludge is subsequently dewatered and driven to the sludge drying plant, where it is dried and turned into biogranules. At Aalborg Portland, the biogranulate substitutes coal and petroleum coke as fuel. It also substitutes raw materials in cement production when it becomes part of the ash fraction after firing. Aalborg Utilities supplies around 3.3 to 4 tonnes of biogranulate to Aalborg Portland annually. Screened waste is incinerated at Reno Nord to become part of the district heating production.  Kingo Recycling collects the sand and sanitises it for use in noise barriers.

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

AB Cool has had the first symbiotic activities in the network in connection with the use of their by-product ethylene glycol. It is a by-product from the manufacturing of refrigeration systems at the company. AB Cool can supply this by-product to the Aalborg Utilities wastewater treatment plant, where it is used as food for bacteria in the process of wastewater purification. AB Cool supplied approx. 800 litres to Aalborg Water in 2016.

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

Various agricultural companies in North Jutland are going to collaborate in an ambitious collection and processing of agricultural foil. It is a challenging initiative, as the plastic resource is geographically spread throughout the region and mixed with soil. The waste management company Aalborg Recycling is establishing a production plant for processing the material. The potential environmental benefit of this form of recycling is enormous, as huge quantities of agricultural foil are currently not being recycled.

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

Alfa Laval, in collaboration with Aalborg Utilities, engages in energy symbiosis in Aalborg. In the symbiosis, surplus heat from Alfa Laval’s production is supplied to the Aalborg Utilities district heating network. In general, the industrial sector plays a major role in the development of a sustainable heat supply in Aalborg, whereby conventional heat sources are being replaced by greener initiatives. The company increased its share of surplus heat supplied to the network in 2020.

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

Bobach Stålentreprise has been strongly involved in symbiosis development in Aalborg. For example, the company is part of a symbiosis, in which a handful of production companies share residual materials with the socio-economic Råt&Godt, transforming residual products into modern, long-lasting design furniture. Environmental and economic gains go hand in hand in this symbiosis: Bobach Stålentreprise saves money, as they do not have to pay for the disposal of the waste themselves, Råt&Godt gains a financial benefit from the sale of the furniture, and the collaboration provides numerous environmental and social benefits in the community. At the same time, the symbiosis has been a positive media story and provided a platform for new collaborations between the companies.

Bobach Stålentreprise is also in symbiosis with a number of steel fabrication companies in Aalborg East, which receive corrugated plastic sheets in the form of spacers between the steel plates. Although the 2-10 mm thick plastic sheets are made of a pure plastic material and are therefore very suitable for recycling, the individual company’s quantities have been too small to bear the logistical costs of recycling. Therefore, the plastic sheets have typically thus far been sent for incineration along with other waste fractions. In the symbiosis, they must now be collected at Aalborg Recycling with a view to becoming new plastic of similarly high quality.

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

Brunø Stål is active in a number of symbioses with companies in the local area. The company collects a sizable quantity of corrugated plastic sheets used as spacers between the steel sheets delivered from their supplier. This generates an amount of waste that can be readily recycled, as the material is clean. Together with other smaller steel processing companies in the Aalborg area, Brunø Stål will collect the plastic sheets and jointly ensure that they are transported for recycling, rather than incineration.

In addition, an energy consultant investigated how the buildings could be heated and energy improved. Although the investigation did not yield a basis for a symbiosis on that issue, Brunø gained specific knowledge of the decision-making process, which also yielded an environmental effect.

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

The asphalt producer Colas Danmark A/S has joined forces in a symbiosis with Nordjyllands Power Station for the exchange of the residual by-product fly ash. Fly ash comprises fine particles, a by-product of incineration at the power station. Instead of sending this by-product to the landfill, it is used i.a. at Colas Denmark in the production of asphalt. Apart from Colas Danmark, the local cement producer Aalborg Portland also receives some of the fly ash. 

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

There are a number of companies in Aalborg East that contribute to various symbioses.

Leasing rather than purchase of transport equipment

One symbiosis involving companies in Aalborg East is product-to-service offers, in which KS Group participates. Customers can either choose to buy or lease such equipment as handcarts from the company. This symbiosis demonstrates how new business collaborations with other companies involving leasing can lead to optimisation of resource and material consumption.

Green appliances

Various companies in Aalborg East, especially housing associations, are also collaborating with De Grønne Hvidevarer (DGH), which has been collecting and renovating domestic appliances for resale to private individuals for several years. In this symbiosis, new models are tested for sale to companies based in Aalborg East. The aim is to make it easy to replace domestic appliances with renovated ones delivered with a warranty and possible service agreement. The extended lifetime of the appliances yields a significant environmental effect by reducing the need to produce new appliances.

Local treatment of oil-water mixtures

This broad group of symbiotic companies also includes Kingo Recycling’s customers. For a number of years, they have been sending oil contaminated process and wastewater to South Jutland for treatment. Consequently, several hundred heavily laden trucks had to drive through Jutland each year. Kingo Recycling has now built a business based on local water treatment that minimises the need to transport it out of North Jutland. This symbiosis is a good example of how a resource can be turned into a business opportunity by retaining it in the immediate area while enabling new symbioses between companies.

Surplus heating

Grocery stores in the area deliver their surplus heating to the district heating network, thereby contributing to greener district heating.

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

Aalborg Crematorium collaborates with Aalborg Utilities as a part of the heat symbiosis in Aalborg, whereby surplus heat is supplied from the crematorium to the district heating network. Surplus heat from the companies plays a major role in the development of Aalborg’s green heat supply, where conventional heat sources are substituted by more sustainable ones.

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

Dansk Boligstål A/S manufactures stainless steel fixtures and fittings, steel and aluminium constructions, ship fittings and Corian®. The company annually produces more than 5,000 countertops in Corian®. Corian® is a composite material. Once mixed, the components of the material cannot be separated again, making recycling very difficult. In collaboration with the Sustainable Synergies project, Dansk Boligstål has been engaged in a consulting process to develop collaborations for the recycling or reuse of Corian offcuts, a by-product of their production. The company is now in full swing to realise this symbiosis.

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

De Grønne Hvidevarer (DGH) has been collecting and renovating domestic appliances for resale to private individuals for several years. In this symbiosis, new models are tested for sale to companies based in Aalborg East. The aim is to make it easier for companies and housing associations to replace worn-out domestic appliances with renovated ones delivered with a warranty and possible service agreement. The extended lifetime of the appliances yields a significant environmental effect by reducing the need to produce new appliances.

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

Farms near Nordjyllands Power Station has previously pumped surplus water from the fields into the Limfjord. Now the farms participate in a symbiosis, whereby approx. 120,000 m3 of water is collected and piped to Nordjyllands Power Station. There it is used in a process that produces gypsum. Consequently, the surplus water replaces groundwater in the process.

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

The company has been involved in the development of a number of symbioses in recent years. The company uses e.g. in its machines a so-called sieve belt, a conveyor belt of 4.5 x 75 meters made of very strong polyester. It is changed ten times a year and it would be a great advantage to be able to reuse it afterwards. Consequently, Fibertex together with other companies teamed up with the socio-economic workshop Råt&Godt and an industrial designer to develop a new design line that utilises the surplus materials of the companies. Initially, a series of tables and lamps are being developed by the designer Mikkel Huse. The combination of strong design and local production in Aalborg East are key elements in the collaboration.

Moreover, the concentrated nature of the business park in the Aalborg East area also affords opportunities for a common recycling scheme for wooden pallets, of which Fibertex is a part. At many companies today, it is customary to discard used pallets, and companies often pay for collection and disposal. Consequently, there is a potential for increased recycling of wooden pallets, which makes good sense both economically and environmentally. Therefore, Fibertex Personal Care is also linked to a recycling scheme for the recirculation of pallets among companies, with the Hobro-based company LC Emballage as the key logistics hub and distributor.

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

Aalborg East Business Park is home to numerous companies that generate oily process and wastewater in their operations. These companies have thus far transported this water to South Jutland for treatment, oil separation and cleaning of its components. The unnecessary transport of tonnes of water on heavily laden tanker trucks formed the basis for a collaboration between Kingo Recycling and the companies in Aalborg East. The contaminated water is collected and treated locally in Aalborg and separated from the oil. Fortum still receives the environmentally hazardous components of the mixture, which they are experts at processing properly. The symbiosis not only represents an environmental benefit due to the CO2 savings by minimising transport, but also exemplifies a business opportunity arising on the basis of a resource that negatively impacts the environment and which can be treated more efficiently for both customers, companies and the environment.

Treatment and separation are continuously improved, with the aim of increasing the quality sufficiently, so that the recycled oil can substitute new oil products.

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

Over the years, numerous companies in the industrial area of Aalborg East have been sending process water and wastewater containing oil for treatment to South Jutland. Consequently, several hundred heavily laden trucks have to drive through Jutland every year. Kingo Recycling has built a business based on local water management, so that as little as possible has to be transported away from North Jutland. Kingo Recycling delivers the oil-water mixture to Avista, which separates waste products and water from the oil, so that it can then be recycled. The waste materials are managed at Fortum. In collaboration with Sustainable Synergies, a number of symbiosis opportunities with local companies have been considered as a part of business development.

The symbiosis is a good example of how a resource can be turned into a business opportunity by retaining it in the immediate area, while generating opportunities for new symbioses between companies. Consequently, it has also been investigated, whether the separation can be of such a high quality that the oil can replace the consumption of new oil products at other companies.

Through the massive saving in transport, the symbiosis yields clear environmental benefits that include a significant reduction in CO2 emissions.

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

A small company with a potentially huge environmental effect. Kirk Skumteknik develops, produces and installs insulation solutions for district heating wells. Residuals from their production could be incorporated as insulation material into the products of RC Beton, which produces concrete elements with built-in insulation. Moreover, the company received assistance to expand its business area, as spreading the solution will beneficially impact the environment. Today, the high-tech district heating pipes are connected in uninsulated holes (wells) in paths and roadsides, from which heat is lost.

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

The transition from selling products to selling services is often mentioned as a good way to reduce environmental impacts, because it can lead to less ‘equipment’ laying around at the customers. In this symbiosis, the KS Group demonstrates how this can be specifically done based on their sales of transport equipment. In their new business model, customers can either choose to buy or lease e.g. handcarts from the company. The service model yields clear positive environmental and energy effects and affords KS Group a new business area, where they hold a strong position in high-quality transport products. At the same time, the symbiosis illustrates how new business collaborations with other companies within leasing can lead to optimal resource and material consumption.

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

Private individuals often use moving boxes over and over again, but other cardboard boxes are generally not recycled. Consequently, there is tremendous potential for making cardboard box consumption more circular, with LC Emballage as a focal point in the symbiosis to realise this potential in Aalborg. The company in Hobro is collaborating with companies in Aalborg East to achieve a cheaper and more environmentally friendly packaging solution. LC Emballage offers to buy used cardboard boxes from one company and sell them to another, providing benefits for all parties. LC Emballage buys used cardboard boxes at a significantly better price from the individual company than if the boxes had ended up as recycled or combustible waste.

LC Emballage also engages in a symbiosis for the recycling of wooden pallets. The company purchases a wide variety of pallets and pallet frames, including disposable pallets and damaged pallets, which are repaired, sorted and resold from their warehouse in Hobro. Through such a scheme, companies in 9220 area can have their pallets collected and receive a modest sum for those pallets that can be recycled. It is a simple, stable, and environmentally friendly solution to tackle the issue of unreturnable pallets.

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

The company was the initiator of a symbiosis in Aalborg. One partner is Salling Entreprenørfirma, which collects large quantities of wood materials from the demolition of old buildings. Another partner has large quantities of functional steel bolts that have only been used once in packaging. Instead of discarding these residual materials, both steel bolts and wood were used in the manufacturing of furniture. The symbiosis was based upon demand for sustainable products. 

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

Maskinfabrikken Fuglsangs Eftf. produces steel components, i.a. for wind and offshore projects. As part of the Sustainable Synergies project, the company has been investigating the possibilities of recycling plastic sheets from the packaging of raw materials by participating in a symbiosis with Aalborg Recycling.

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

Sheet metal offcuts

NB Ventilation is involved in a number of symbiotic collaborations due to the large amount of Aluzinc offcuts that occur in their production of ventilation systems. A neighbouring company, Aalborg Profil- og Smedeværksted, is interested in using some of the material. In addition, NB Ventilation and companies from other industries are part of a joint symbiosis, in which they supply surplus materials to the socio-economic workshop Råt&Godt. Here, a new design line based on surplus materials is being developed by an industrial designer, especially for production at Råt&Godt. Initially, a series of tables and lamps are being developed by the designer Mikkel Huse. The combination of strong design, good residual materials and versatile local production in Aalborg East are the key elements in the collaboration.

Plastic sheet

NB Ventilation also engages in symbiosis with a number of steel processing companies in Aalborg East, which receive corrugated plastic sheets that act as spacers between the steel plates from their supplier. Although, the 2-10 mm thick plastic sheets are made of a pure plastic material and therefore easily recyclable, the individual company’s quantities have so far been too small to justify the logistical cost of recycling. Consequently, the plastic sheets have typically been sent for incineration along with other waste fractions. In the symbiosis, the sheets are collected with a view to becoming new plastic of a correspondingly high quality.

Hand tools

Hand tools that no longer work are typically discarded as repair is expensive. This is not the case at NB Ventilation. The company has joined forces with the socio-economic company Råt&Godt to prove that it is possible to extend the life of a large proportion of the hand tools that are discarded. At best, the company takes back the repaired hand tool for the benefit of both the economy and the environment.

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

The company collaborates with KS Gruppen to offer leasing solutions rather than sales of products. This yields positive environmental effects.

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

The building of the new university hospital, thanks to a collaboration with Aalborg Utilities and Aalborg Portland, paved the way for a completely new symbiosis group in Aalborg. The companies, Aalborg Utilities and Aalborg Portland, joined forces on a sustainable alternative to the traditional cooling systems: They plan to use the constant cold water from Aalborg Portland’s limestone quarry to cool the hospital buildings. Cooling of the hospital is a vital step in developing district cooling systems in Aalborg, affording an opportunity to connect more companies to the system in the future.

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

Port of Aalborg is part of a symbiosis, in which purified sand is utilised by the cement producer Aalborg Portland. The sand is derived from the periodic dredging of the Limfjord, which is necessary for ships to navigate the fjord. Since sand, combined with lime, is the primary raw material for the production of grey cement, the sand is used in Aalborg Portland’s cement production. Prior to this collaboration, the dredged sand was deposited in the sea. Quantities fluctuate throughout the year depending on weather conditions, but on average approx. 100,000 tonnes of sand are recycled annually.

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

Råt&Godt is a socio-economic workshop with a business model that is deeply rooted in sustainability. Therefore, it only makes sense that Råt&Godt is also a key company in Aalborg’s symbiosis network.

In this symbiosis, hand tools are exchanged between companies. Hand tools are typically discarded if they do not work, because repairing them is expensive. Consequently, the socio-economic company Råt&Godt has joined forces with NB Ventilation to investigate, whether it is possible to extend the service life of the hand tools discarded by production companies by repairing them. There is no time here to see if the tool could be repaired. At best, companies can take the repaired hand tool back for the benefit of both the economy and the environment.

The combination of strong design and versatile local production in Aalborg East are key elements in another collaboration. A number of companies in Aalborg East have been considering the question what to do with their production offcuts which are too good to be discarded. Consequently, NB Ventilation, Bobach Stålentreprise and others teamed up with Råt&Godt and an industrial designer to develop a new design line specially adapted to the production capabilities at Råt&Godt. Initially this resulted in a series of tables and lamps. Mikkel Huse from Huse Design designed the furniture specially to make use of the good materials available, while giving the furniture an industrial but classic look that is unique in market for sustainable design today.

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

RC Beton produces concrete elements with built-in insulation. The company is exploring opportunities to receive residual insulation material from the company Kirk Skumteknik. This company develops, produces and installs insulation solutions for district heating wells, and it may be possible to reuse their production offcuts as insulation material in RC Beton’s products instead of new material.

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

At Reno-Nord, we produce environmentally friendly district heating and electricity from the energy in residential and commercial waste. We supply the surplus heat from our energy plant to Aalborg Utilities, which distributes it through the city’s district heating network. Together with Nordjyllands Power Station, we supply more than half of the heating demand in Aalborg Municipality.

In collaboration with the company owners, we have strived for many years to extract recyclable waste from incinerable waste. This initiative is now being further strengthened by the agreement of the climate action plan for the waste sector. We expect to continue supplying a significant portion of the heat demand to the Aalborg Utilities district heating network, as the spare capacity that can arise from sorting recyclable waste can be used for energy production with green fuels such as garden waste – or waste from other areas in Denmark, where dilapidated incinerators are being decommissioned.

How are we engaging in symbiosis?

The construction company Salling Entreprenørfirma collects large quantities of wood from the demolition of old buildings. Usually, wood materials are burned or at best recycled, but are rarely recycled in their original state. However, this is exactly what is happening in Aalborg. The wood materials are used by a furniture company in the manufacturing of more sustainable furniture.