35 – The Rhine Necktar region and the area of Heidelberg in Germany: a university-driven Industrial Symbiosis implementation

The area around the city of Heidelberg in Germany, on the Necktar river hosts the Pfaffengrund industrial estate. The estate is composed by a mix of companies from different sectors and of different sizes, and is included in the larger industrial area of the Rhine-Necktar region.

The challenge that led to the creation of symbiotic exchanges in the area was that of a group of researchers that were interested in demonstrating the replicability of the Kalundborg experience.

The discovery process was therefore led by the research team, and eighteen companies, mainly SMEs, were involved in the first place after the payment of a participation fee. During the initial phases of the project, researchers focused on the Pfaffengrund industrial estate only. With the support of the local government, they carried on the identification of potential exchanges and collaborations among companies. After that, the entire area of the Rhine-Necktar region was involved, and researchers worked to create a network and coordination structure between companies as well as a waste management information system to facilitate data sharing.

The main precondition that allowed the creation of symbiotic exchanges in the district was the fact that companies were all located in a well-defined geographical region, containing a good mix of industrial sectors.

Source: Adamides, E. D., Mouzakitis, Y., 2009, “Industrial ecosystems as technological niches”. Journal of Cleaner Production 17:172-180.