Introduction

Industrial symbiosis represents a collaborative approach in which different industries exchange materials, energy, water, or by-products to create mutual benefits. By leveraging interconnected systems, industrial symbiosis enhances resource efficiency, reduces waste, and lowers environmental impacts. This process is central to advancing sustainability goals, supporting climate resilience, and accelerating the transition to a circular economy. More information on industrial symbiosis can be found here.

For large-scale application and implementation of solutions to foster industrial symbiosis, standardized frameworks and practices are essential. Unlocking the potential of industrial symbioses will lead to harmonizing methodologies, fostering trust and innovation to optimize resource use, and drive industrial transformation across Europe.

The Industrial Symbiosis Standardization Roadmap emerged from the project “RISERS - A Roadmap for Industrial Symbiosis Standardisation for Efficient Resource Sharing” (http://risers-project.eu), launched under the European Union’s Horizon Europe Programme. The organisation of the roadmap is led by CEN and CENELEC together with DIN.

Roadmap goals

The comprehensive roadmap aims to drive and guide the standardisation of industrial symbiosis in Europe. It will be developed in collaboration with a network of experts and practitioners from various sectors.

To achieve this, the roadmap focuses on the following goals:

  • identification of challenges and opportunities for industrial symbiosis.
  • addressing gaps in existing standards and policy frameworks.
  • developing actionable recommendations for fostering resource efficiency (target audience to be specified).

Working Groups

The working groups are designed to support the development of a standardization roadmap for industrial symbiosis by focusing on specific thematic areas and priority synergies. The specific themes and the Terms of Reference are outlined in the page about the Working Groups. The priority synergies and resources are further explained here.

The working groups will provide targeted inputs for specific sections of the roadmap. The timeline of the activities is presented in Figure 1.

While thematic areas for the Working Groups have been initially defined, they will remain flexible and adaptable following the kick-off meeting to ensure alignment with stakeholder priorities.


Note: To be able to work with the platform, you must sign in to DIN.ONE.

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Contact

Sebastian Vogel e-mail  svogel@cencenelec.eu




To register for participation in the Working Groups for the Industrial Symbiosis roadmap, please complete the following steps:

Register on DIN.ONE Platform.

Sign in for the Kick-Off Meeting on March 28th 2025.

Your can already sign in for the preliminary Working Groups.



Timeline

Figure 1 - Timeline for Working Group activities


Effort

  • Three working group meetings:
    • First round (April - June 2025): Two online half-day sessions per Working Group to identify challenges and standardization needs. Output feeds into interim reports.
    • Second round (September - October 2025): One online half-day session per Working Group to validate findings and refine final recommendations (by November 2025).
  • Two plenary sessions
    • Interim Online Plenary (June 2025): Consolidates Working Group progress into a draft roadmap structure.
    • Final Hybrid Plenary (November 2025): Finalizes Working Group contributions for the roadmap.






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