As we step into 2026, this newsletter offers an opportunity to reflect on 2025, a year of both transition and tangible results for Kalundborg Symbiosis. We successfully achieved our ambitious 2016–2025 strategic target of establishing 10 new symbiotic streams. This milestone highlights the strength of our collaboration and reaffirms our commitment to advancing circular solutions, while laying a solid foundation for the next chapter ahead.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————— No. 10, January, 2026
Change in chairmanship of Kalundborg Symbiosis
2025 marked a change in the Board of Directors of Kalundborg Symbiosis. Michael Hallgren, Senior Vice President, Novo Nordisk Manufacturing Kalundborg, who served as Chair of the Board throughout the entire ten-year strategic period, stepped down from the position. He handed over his mandate to his colleague Stine Gry Roland, Project Vice President, CMC & PS Public Affairs, Novo Nordisk, while continuing in his role at Novo Nordisk in Kalundborg.
Stine Gry Roland thereby joined the Board as a new board member under Novo Nordisk’s mandate and assumed the role of Chair of the Board by mandate of the Board until the next ordinary general meeting.
Ten streams. Ten collaborations. One shared goal: Full resource utilization
By the end of 2025, Kalundborg Symbiosis had reached a major strategic milestone: the successful implementation of ten new symbiosis streams over a ten-year period. This achievement marks the completion of our 2016–2025 strategy and demonstrates the enduring strength of collaboration among our members.
The tenth and final stream, the recycling of NMP (1-methyl-2-pyrrolidone), completes a compelling picture of a local industrial ecosystem in which residual resources are increasingly reused rather than lost. Together, the ten streams illustrate how new connections between companies can significantly enhance resource efficiency across energy, water, and material flows.
The ten new symbiosis streams are:
– Recovery of surplus heat from industrial wastewater for district heating
– Conversion of residual products into biogas and biomethane
– The world’s first waterworks treating surface water without chlorine
– Transition from coal to biomass at Asnæs Power Station
– Use of condensate water from Ørsted in the refinery
– Data sharing for intelligent water and wastewater management
– Production of second-generation bioethanol from straw
– Facilities for CO₂ capture and storage
– Establishment of Northern Europe’s largest industrial cooling and heating center
– Recycling of NMP
Collectively, these initiatives have delivered substantial results, including significant CO₂ reductions, the recycling of tens of thousands of tonnes of residual materials, and meaningful decreases in water consumption. Most importantly, they demonstrate what can be achieved when trust, innovation, and strong partnerships come together.
With this milestone accomplished, Kalundborg Symbiosis now looks ahead to the future and the next chapter of its journey: Strategy 2035.
Advancing Industrial Symbiosis through project partnerships
For us at the Kalundborg Symbiosis Secretariat, the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026 signify the completion of several external projects. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to all Symbiosis members for your continued support and close collaboration.
The GreenIndustrialAreas project, funded by the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme, concluded with a final conference in Schwerin, Germany. Together with partners from across the Baltic Sea region, we reviewed the project’s outcomes, shared experiences on how the results are being applied in different regions. The conference provided valuable insights into emerging trends in spatial planning, international standards for industrial area certification, and best practices for supporting the green and energy transition in industry. Within this project, we collaborated closely with Kalundborg Municipality.
The PRESI project, Pathways to Resource Efficiency in Santa Cruz Industries, is a Brazilian–Danish initiative in which Kalundborg Symbiosis worked with an industrial network and the state government to promote industrial symbiosis in the Rio de Janeiro region. The project also benefited from Kalundborg Utility’s expertise, particularly in addressing water-related challenges within symbiosis partnerships. One of the key deliverables was a Facilitator’s Guide for Brazilian partners interested in exploring industrial symbiosis. Together with our project partners, led by CLEAN, we are now preparing an application to continue this work under the TRACE programme of the Innovation Fund.
The VINCIS project, funded by the Erasmus+ programme and focused on integrating industrial symbiosis into vocational education, has also concluded with the development of a Concept Note. This document builds on project findings gathered through dialogue with symbiosis partners, industrial symbiosis practitioners, and vocational and higher education institutions.
In Kalundborg Symbiosis, collaboration lies at the heart of our philosophy. Once again, the Kalundborg model has demonstrated the strength of joint solutions in addressing shared challenges and driving sustainable transitions.
Screening 2025 complete!
Thank you for the warm welcome and for contributing to inspiring meetings, where you openly shared relevant knowledge about your production, internal optimizations, residual resources, and other challenges. The screening meetings help expand our network and generate new ideas on how resources can be utilized even more across companies, providing a strong foundation for the continued work on sustainable solutions within the Symbiosis.
Strong potential for an Experimentarium Symbiosis in Kalundborg
The preliminary analysis concluded that there is strong potential for establishing and operating an Experimentarium Symbiosis in Kalundborg. Following this, the Experimentarium team visited Kalundborg. There is broad optimism among all parties involved regarding the establishment of an Experimentarium Symbiosis. We have also invited Experimentarium to participate in one of the upcoming board meetings.
Looking ahead…
As we reflect on 2025’s most significant milestones, we turn our attention toward an exciting 2026. The year ahead will be shaped by the development of a new Strategy 2035 for Kalundborg Symbiosis, alongside continued dialogue on what Kalundborg’s designation as a National Industrial Park means in practice, and how we, as a symbiosis, can actively contribute to both positioning and realising its ambitions.
As inspiration for the year ahead, we share reflections from the Bioeconomy Conference 2025, curated by Bjarke Skaanning, Head of Secretariat, under the theme “Shaping the Future of the European Bioeconomy.”
A central question framed the conference discussions: How can Europe accelerate the journey from lab to production while ensuring that innovation, manufacturing, and value creation remain in Europe?
The key messages were clear. Europe must act faster and more decisively, engage farmers as core partners, and embed circularity and sustainability at the heart of scaling bio-based solutions. Strong cross-sector partnerships, continued investment in education, and concrete examples such as Kalundborg demonstrate what is possible when collaboration drives progress.
The path forward is evident: turn policy into action, strengthen collaboration, and invest strategically, so that Kalundborg can play a leading role in building a sustainable future together.
We wish you a sustainable New Year, shaped by new strategies, new projects, and new collaborations!