Industrial symbiosis: A Danish project from Clean inspires Brazil’s national strategy

Industrial symbiosis has been added to Brazil’s climate agenda, and a Danish-supported project may form the basis for industrial symbiosis throughout the country. This week, the Brazilian project participants are attending a course in Denmark.

The P.R.E.S.I project in Brazil’s Santa Cruz region is set to become a cornerstone of a national program for industrial symbiosis. The program is part of President Lula da Silva’s ambitious new 10-year strategy for the circular economy. Soon, the world’s fifth-largest country will have a myriad of Danish fingerprints on its map.

It is fantastic to see the momentum that industrial symbiosis is experiencing in Brazil right now, with new legislation combined with considerable interest from businesses. We are fortunate that Denmark has some of the world’s leading experts in industrial symbiosis who can help realize the potential – Lais de Rezende Valenca Project Manager, Clean.

Brazilians in a Danish symbiosis school

One of the companies in the P.R.E.S.I. project is AEDIN, which supplies corrosion-resistant solutions to the global energy industry, such as pipes used in drilling. Here, the screening identified opportunities to reuse treated wastewater as a raw material for fertilizer production in partnership with another local company.

The synergy with wastewater alone looks set to save almost USD 500,000 every year, while also protecting the environment. The symbiosis project is strengthening the entire industrial cluster in Santa Cruz. It has already helped us develop significantly, and we can achieve much more in the near future – Melissa Rocco, coordinator at AEDIN.

Melissa Rocco is currently spending three weeks in Denmark to attend a course on energy and infrastructure at DTU.

This gives me the opportunity to deepen my understanding of, among other things, the recovery of surplus heat. This knowledge is crucial for shaping new symbiotic collaborations in Brazilian industrial clusters and developing more efficient and circular infrastructure inspired by Danish district heating – Melissa Rocco, coordinator at AEDIN.

There are good opportunities to do something similar in Brazil. Danish technical symbiosis experts have screened a number of Brazilian companies for opportunities, and now local companies are establishing the P.R.E.S.I symbiosis in practice. It is already the best in its field in Brazil and is therefore set to become a model for the rollout of other symbioses in the national program. We are entering a really exciting time in this area – Bjarke Skaanning, Head of Secretariat at Kalundborg Symbiosis.

Three symbioses have been established as a result of P.R.E.S.I, and more are on the way. Parallel to the symbiosis course in Denmark, a federal delegation from Brazil is in Denmark to discuss future energy cooperation between our countries.

More about the P.R.E.S.I project