To "strengthen the territorial approach to the development of the circular economy", the Walloon government approved the implementation of three actions last June. One of these actions was the launch of a call for projects to set up industrial symbiosis facilitators within the Territorial Development Agencies.
As a reminder, industrial symbiosis involves the voluntary pooling of resources by local players, with a view to saving money or improving productivity. It is characterized in particular by improved collaboration between local players, whether public and/or private, and by the reinforcement of operational actions to exchange flows, mutualize, share and create activities.
Industrial symbioses are seen, particularly at European level, as important solutions for green growth, enabling the creation of more resource-efficient industrial zones that are more profitable, competitive and attractive to investment, thereby reducing risks.
In practice, symbiosis consists of exchanges between players in an area (companies, local authorities, hospital infrastructures, farmers, etc.) where the co-product or "waste" of one is a raw material for the other. It can also enable the pooling of equipment or purchases.
The call for projects was launched on June 7 and closed on August 29 of this year. Six applications were submitted to the authorities and forwarded to the jury, together with an evaluation grid setting out the assessment criteria laid down by the government.
Of these, IDEA, IDELUX, BEP, InBW and IDETA received a positive assessment from the jury. The Government will subsidize these 5 projects for a total of €2,106,904.45.
The projects submitted will start in 2022 and end on December 31, 2024.
These projects will contribute to the deployment of the circular economy within Walloon companies, and in particular to Circular Wallonia's objective of doubling the number of Walloon companies with circular economy practices by 2025.
More specifically, they will:
Raise awareness and inform at least 320 companies about the concept of industrial symbiosis;
Set up symbioses between companies - at least 24 concrete projects completed;
perpetuate knowledge through the development of a university certificate in industrial ecology;
Optimize raw materials consumption.
Willy BORSUS: "It's important to help companies take advantage of the opportunities offered by the circular economy, especially in the current context of raw material prices, whether by integrating it into their product design or through new practices with industrial symbioses."
