Industrial Symbiosis for Sustainable Production

*Prof. Olli Dahl,

*MSc. Mikko Mäkelä, MSc. Gary Watkins and Dr. Roope Husgafvel

Dr. Jyrki Heino, University of Oulu

*School of Chemical TechnologyDepartment of Forest Products Technology Clean Technologies GroupP.O. Box 16300, 00076 Aalto, FinlandPhone +358 40 5401070email: olli.dahl@aalto.fi

Content

• Sustainability in industry

• Industrial symbiosis

• Existing industrial symbiosis systems

• Future industrial symbiosis systems

• Conclusions

Sustainability in industry - definitions

Barbier's view of sustainable development (Holmberg & Sandberg, 1992)

Prism of sustainability (Stenberg, 2001)

Egg of Sustainability (Found et. al, 1997)

Many definitions, but how to selectthe right one?

Sustainability in industry - metrics• Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI)

– provide asset managers with reliable and objective benchmarks to manage sustainabilityportfolios

• Global 100 index– the 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World

• FTSE4Good-index– has been designed to measure the performance of companies that meet globally recognized

corporate responsibility standards

• Carbon Disclosure Leadership – index– highlighting companies which have displayed the most professional approach to climate

change disclosure practices

• World's Most Ethical Companies– designation recognizes companies that truly go beyond making statements about doing

business “ethically” and translate those words into action.

My claim is that existing metrics are planned for global money makersand do not take care of local aspects at all!

Sustainability in industry - confusing example

• How it is possible that a company that:– has shut down many mills (even profitable ones)

– has made over 2000 white-collar workers redundant

– has been suspected of using illegal means and to violate human rightswhen acquiring land for forest plantations

• Has been selected as one of the World's Most Ethical Companiesusing various sustainability indexes?!

• What do these indices really measure?

• Should we develop better indices and metrics?

Sustainability in Industry – new approachesBalanced Sustainability (BS)• Launched by Pöyry 2009 in its 2020 vision:

– BS includes three aspects which are environmental, economicand social.

– BS is weighting values of different aspects - can vary dependingon the nature of the project and location.

– BS defines social aspects as how solutions affect people,institutions and cultures, economic aspects as how solutionsimpact local and global economies, and environmental aspects ashow solutions impact nature and the environment

This metric also takes care of individual mills and their effects onlocal aspects!

Industrial Symbiosis - definitions

Industrial ecology – “What should we do?”

• Industrial ecology is a broad, systemic and cross-industrial approach,it studies industrial systems as ecosystems which encompass anetwork of processes and flows, includes industry’s wider links tosociety – Broad metaphor.

Industrial symbiosis – “What can we do?”

• Industrial symbiosis is a part of industrial ecology looking at theinteraction and utilization of processes and flows within the industrialecosystem such as recycling of residues for the development of newsymbiosis products – A model.

Existing industrial symbiosis systems – Copper production - steps

WHB EP

Concentrate, silica sand

Feed mixture

Oxygenand air

Flue dust

Slag

FLOW SHEET OF COPPER SMELTER

SLAG COOLING

Silica sand, coke, reverts

Air and oxygen

SCREENING AND GRINDING

SLAG GRINDING

SLAGCONCENTRATOR

Waste slag

Acidplant

Bagfilter

Propane, air

Matte

Bagfilter

Bagfilter

WHB

FLASH SMELTINGFURNACE

CONCENTRATEDRYINGSteam

THICKENER

BlisterHEATEXCHANGER

PRESSUREFILTER

Scrap, anode scrap

EP

CONVERTER

ANODEFURNACE

Ni drying

Ni Electric furnace bins

ANODE CASTING

Cu-ANODE

Slag concentrate

Existing industrial symbiosis systems – Copper and Nickel production today

Benefits:

Better environmental efficiency

Better energy efficiency

Better material efficiency

Excellent example of today’s approach to industrial symbiosis

Landfill

Future industrial symbiosis systems – new symbiosis products – symbiosis with other industry fields

New symbiosis products:• New fertilizer (soil improvement pellets), lower grades concretes and mine

fillings

• Avoid landfilling

Pulp mill

Carbon steelplant

Power plant

Paper mill

Symbiosis productsSoil amelioration pellet

Inferior concreteMine fillerMine

lime waste

green liquer dregs

steel ladle slag

desulphurisationslag

attle rock

sludge

fly ash

bottom ash

Future industrial symbiosis systems – new symbiosis products – symbiosis with other industry fields

Barriers:• Existing laws (dilution of waste is forbidden, total concentration thinking!)

• Old attitudes in industry and authorities in Finland

• Lack of guidance for industry

Results via LCA calculation: GWP (kg, CO2-Ekviv.)

Carbon footprint (kg)

Symbiosis products

Soil improvement 1.6 1.6Lower grade concrete 2 1.9Mine filling 0.13 0.12

Primary products

Soil improvement 12.2 11.4NPK 15-15-15 fertlizer 1497 845Precast concrete 124 119Portland cement 899 885Mine filling (portland) 1.5 1.4Landfilling of slag 3 141 303 2 816 680

Future industrial symbiosis systems and scales/levelsSymbiosis vs Ecology?1 - IS Installation 2 - IS Local 3 - IS/IE Sub Regional4 - IE Regional 5 - IE Transnational?1>2>3>4>5->more systemic/complex

We want improvements on which scale? Inter-plant symbioses or for a regional system? i.e. are sub-

optimal elements allowed in overall solutions?

ConclusionsSustainability in industry• Too many metrics and indexes, which are made for money makers

• Do not take care of local aspects

• New indicators and indexes will be needed!

Industrial symbiosis• Good examples of industrial symbiosis have been developed

• New symbiosis products will be coming to market

• Industrial symbiosis and symbiosis products means:– Better material efficiency, Better energy efficiency, Better environmental efficiency

However new thinking will be needed by both industry and regulatoryauthorities!

Antoine de Antoine de SaintSaint--ExupéryExupéry

“We do not inherit our land from our ancestors We just borrow land from our children”

Thanks!Thanks!