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[Translate to English:] © Christian Teichmann ​/​ sfs

IS2H4C - Sustainable Circular Economy Transition: From Industrial Symbiosis to Hubs for Circularity

01/01/2024 - 01/31/2028

Dr. Michael Kohlgrüber | Antonius Johannes Schröder | Clara Behrend | Mathias Cuypers | Adrian Götting | Beata Lewan­dowska

Existing heavily industrialized areas are currently incapable of adopting large-scale industrial symbioses in terms of shared technology/infrastructure use, waste integration, energy and material utilization, as well as expanding through surrounding ecosystems in an inclusive manner for the society despite many of the EU's key strategic priorities in sustainable regional development. Within this context, IS2H4C proposes an ambitious and efficient innovation and action workplan to develop several solutions for the development of Hubs for Circularity (H4C) in diverse industrial areas of process industry surrounded by rural and/or urban settings in the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, and Turkey.

European Commission – Horizon Europe

Existing heavily industrialized areas are currently incapable of adopting large-scale industrial symbioses in terms of shared technology/infrastructure use, waste integration, energy and material utilization, as well as expanding through

surrounding ecosystems in an inclusive manner for the society despite many of the EU's key strategic priorities in sustainable regional development. Within this context, IS2H4C proposes an ambitious and efficient innovation and action workplan to develop several solutions for the development of Hubs for Circularity (H4C) in diverse industrial areas of process industry surrounded by rural and/or urban settings in the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, and Turkey.

The workplan is shaped by development and deployment of most innovative sustainable technologies and infrastructure integration in four demo hubs and is supported by ground-breaking research on societal, governmental, and business

innovation for H4C. IS2H4C scales up industrial areas to H4C via implementing systemic change and integrating the surrounding ecosystems to industrial areas. The project implements a digital collaboration platform to manage the resource, infrastructure and information-sharing within H4C via embedding of decision-support modules in the platform. IS2H4C has the ambition of reducing the energy use, waste emissions, and carbon emissions by at least 10%, 20%, and

30% respectively. IS2H4C will contribute to pave the path towards the development of H4C based on the circularity and resilience requirements of existing and future industrial zones and their surrounding ecosystems by prioritizing resource efficiency, maximizing use of renewable energy, prevention of waste, and promoting industrial/urban/rural symbiosis via reuse and

recycling of unavoidable solid, liquid, and gas waste streams. All in all, IS2H4C’s biggest ambition is to promote H4C as Europe’s future sustainable regional development models.

  • UNIVERSITEIT TWENTE (UT)
  • MONTANUNIVERSITAET LEOBEN (MUL)
  • TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAT DORTMUND (TUDO)
  • FUNDACION TECNALIA RESEARCH & INNOVATION (TEC)
  • INEGI - INSTITUTO DE CIENCIA E INOVACAO EM ENGENHARIA MECANICA E ENGENHARIA INDUSTRIAL (INEGI)
  • FRAUNHOFER GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER ANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNG EV (FHG)
  • FUNDACION CIRCE CENTRO DE INVESTIGACION DE RECURSOS Y CONSUMOS ENERGETICOS (CIRCE)
  • EREVNITIKO PANEPISTIMIAKO INSTITOUTO SYSTIMATON EPIKOINONION KAI YPOLOGISTON (ICCS)
  • AEE - INSTITUT FUR NACHHALTIGE TECHNOLOGIEN (AEE)
  • FUNDACION ZARAGOZA LOGISTICS CENTER (ZLC)
  • ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES ASBL (EEIP)
  • ISTANBUL MADEN VE METALLER IHRACATCI BIRLIKLERI (IMMIB)
  • COOPERATIE WAARDEMAKERS IN WATERSTOF U.A. (H2HT)
  • CLUSTER DE ENERGIA (ACE)
  • CONSORCIO DE AGUAS BILBAO BIZKAIA (CABB)
  • COOPERATIE DUURZAAM AADORP U.A. (ALMELO)
  • KPMG & ASSOCIADOS SOCIEDADE DE REVISORES OFICIAS DE CONTAS SA (KPMG)
  • Turkiye Petrol Rafinerileri Anonim Sirketi (TUPRAS)
  • ARCELIK A.S. (ARCELIK)
  • SMURFIT KAPPA NERVION SA (SKN)
  • NORTEGAS ENERGIA GRUPO SOCIEDAD LIMITADA (NORTEGAS)
  • SIDENOR ACEROS ESPECIALES SL (SIDENOR)
  • PETRONOR INNOVACION SOCIEDAD LIMITADA (PETRONOR)
  • CALERA DE ALZO SL (CALERA)
  • LOINTEK INGENIERIA Y TECNICAS DE MONTAJES SL (LTK)
  • SPOUTED BED SOLUTIONS SOCIEDAD LIMITADA (SBS)
  • INFRASERV GMBH & CO. HOCHST KG (IH)
  • CROWDHELIX LIMITED (CHX)
  • IRIS TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, SOCIEDAD LIMITADA (IRIS)
  • WORKDECK DIGITAL WORKPLACE SL (WDK)
  • SOLAR ENERGY CONVERSION POWER CORPORATION (SOLENCO)
[Translate to English:] Grafik über methodisches Vorgehen © [Translate to English:] IS2H4C
[Translate to English:]

To materialize the vision of a sustainable and resilient Circular Economy based on the concept above, IS2H4C has designed a 49-month work plan composed of 8 Work Packages (WPs), which will allow the consortium to achieve the objectives outlined above. The plan revolves around 4 highly interconnected working phases: (1) Technology development for H4C; (2) Sustainability of H4C; (3) Deployment and demonstration and (4) Outreach Strategy.

In detail, the following concrete project goals are pursued:

  • Deploy and demonstrate near commercial scale industrial symbiosis through innovative technologies
  • Ensure resilience and sustainability of H4Cs considering planet, people, and profit
  • Facilitate the market penetration of H4C through novel financial schemes and social innovation approaches unlocking public and private investment
  • Develop a digital collaboration platform for information-sharing and smart decision-support
  • Achieve a standardized top-down H4C design methodology, applicable as a reference regional development model
  • Maximize wider uptake of IS2H4C’s results during and after the project’s execution
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