Eco-industrial park (Denmark)

An eco-industrial park is an industrial park in which businesses cooperate with each other and with the local community in an attempt to reduce waste and pollution, to share resources, and to help achieve sustainable development, with the intention of increasing economic gains and improving environmental quality.

The Kalundborg eco-industrial park in Denmark has developed a symbiosis network between companies where the waste from one industry provides a resource for another. It links a 1500MW coal fired power plant with the community and other companies. Surplus heat heats 3500 local homes and a nearby fish farm. The sludge from the fish farm is then sold as a fertilizer.

Steam from the power plant is sold to Novo Nordisk, a pharmaceutical and enzyme manufacturer, in addition to a Statoil plant. This reuse of heat reduces the amount of thermal pollution discharged to fjord.

Another by-product from the power plant is gypsum, which is sold to a wallboard manufacturer. This reduces the amount of open-pit mining needed. Fly ash and clinker from the power plant is utilized for road building and cement production.

The industrial symbiosis evolved gradually. As environmental regulations became stricter, firms were motivated to reduce the cost of compliance, and turn their by-products into economic products.