As 2025 draws to a close, this final newsletter of the year is an opportunity to reflect on a year of transition and results for Kalundborg Symbiosis. We have reached our ambitious strategic target for 2016–2025 of establishing 10 new symbiotic streams. This milestone underlines both the strength of our collaboration and our continued commitment to developing circular solutions, while preparing the ground for the next chapter ahead.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————— No. 10, December, 2025
Ten streams. Ten collaborations. One shared goal: Full resource utilization
By the end of 2025, Kalundborg Symbiosis reaches a major strategic milestone: the successful realization of ten new symbiosis streams in ten years. This achievement marks the fulfillment of our 2016–2025 strategy and demonstrates the continued strength of collaboration among our members.
The tenth and final stream, the recycling of NMP (1-methyl-2-pyrrolidone), completes a powerful picture of a local industrial symbiosis where residual resources are increasingly reused rather than lost. Together, the ten streams show how new connections between companies can significantly improve resource efficiency across energy, water, and materials.
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: significant CO₂ reductions, the recycling of tens of thousands of tonnes of residual materials, and meaningful decreases in water consumption. Most importantly, they highlight what is possible when trust, innovation, and partnership come together.
With this milestone achieved, Kalundborg Symbiosis now turns its focus to the future and the next chapter in our journey: Strategy 2035.
Change in chairmanship of Kalundborg Symbiosis
2025 also marks a change in Kalundborg Symbiosis’ Board of Directors. Michael Hallgren, Senior Vice President, Novo Nordisk Manufacturing Kalundborg, who has served as Chair of the Board throughout the entire ten-year strategic period, is stepping down from the position. He will hand 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 will thereby join the board as a new board member under Novo Nordisk’s mandate and assume the role of Chair of the Board by mandate of the current board until the next ordinary general meeting.
Advancing Industrial Symbiosis through project partnerships
For us at the Kalundborg Symbiosis Secretariat, the end of 2025 sagnifies the completion of several external projects. We would like to thank all Symbiosis members for your continued support and 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.
At 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 nearly 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…
After reflecting on the year’s most important milestones, we would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a peaceful, sustainable New Year, one shaped by new strategies, new projects, and new collaborations.
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.”
The conference highlighted a central question: how can Europe accelerate the journey from lab to production, while keeping innovation, manufacturing, and value creation in Europe?
Key takeaways 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 examples such as Kalundborg Symbiosis show what is possible through collaboration.
Aligned with the EU Bioeconomy Strategy, the path forward is clear: turn policy into action, strengthen collaboration, and invest strategically, so Europe can lead the global bioeconomy and build a sustainable future together.