Periodic Reporting for period 1 - RISERS (A Roadmap for Industrial Symbiosis Standardisation for Efficient Resource Sharing)
Período documentado: 2024-01-01 hasta 2025-06-30
Industrial symbiosis (IS) is a crucial strategy for transitioning to a circular and sustainable economy, recognized by the EU's CEAP. IS involves one company or sector using underutilized resources—including, for example, waste, by-products, energy, water, capacity, or expertise—from another stakeholder, thus extending resource in productive use for longer. Despite its strategic importance and the CWA 17354 laying initial groundwork, IS update across the EU remains fragmented. It is worth noting that there are indeed some “pockets” of strong IS activity spread across Europe, however, there is not systematic and spreading adaptation of IS as the default mode of operation for industries in Europe.RISERS addresses this gap by developing an inclusive IS Standardisation Roadmap that will simplify and promote broad IS adoption across Europe. This requires engaging diverse stakeholders and aligning with regulatory and industrial priorities. In particular this requires identifying and proposing solutions for cases where cross-sectoral resource use is limited due to lacking or miss-matching standards. The project also aims to support policy integration through standards that facilitate regulatory uptake and diffusion of IS practices. Through a multidisciplinary, stakeholder-driven approach involving industry, standardisation bodies, policymakers, R&I communities, and funders, RISERS aims to: Identify high-impact IS synergies and resources; Pinpoint gaps and opportunities in sectoral practices and standards to boost uptake of these synergies; Promote uptake of R&I results in IS standardisation by identifying demand-driven R&I priorities, and barriers and enablers for innovative IS solutions market entry; Engage policymakers by proposing new or adapted policy frameworks to support IS. This is supported by continuous dissemination, fostering community building, knowledge exchange, and cross-sector collaboration. The RISERS Roadmap will guide the development and adaptation of standards to promote resource circularity through IS. It aims to enhance cross-sector interoperability, reduce uncertainty in IS collaborations, support market entry for IS technologies, and strengthen integration of R&I with IS developments. This will lead to cost savings, new revenue opportunities, reduce waste and carbon emission, and strengthen EU leadership in international standardisation and the circular economy.
RISERS advances steadily toward creating a comprehensive IS Standardisation Roadmap through six key action lines: Action Line 1: Mapping the IS Standardisation Landscape: DIN reviewed ~800 international and European Technical Committees (TCs) for relevance to IS themes, visualized in an interactive diagram (image uploaded below). A stakeholder survey captured how TCs and practitioners address IS and identified unmet standardisation needs and barriers (image uploaded below). Action Line 2: Defining Priority IS Synergies and Resource Flows: Led by UGent, RISERS assessed 600+ IS synergies from databases (SCALER, AIDRES, EPOS, MAESTRI), compiling 300+ Materials, Energies, and Services streams by source and sink sectors. A Legal, Economic, Spatial, Technical, Social analysis shortlisted ~50 high-impact cases, followed by 'People, Planet, Profit' evaluation selecting the top 10 cross-sector synergies with greatest potential (image uploaded below). These synergies span sectors like steel, cement, chemicals, refineries, energy, bio-based industries, textiles, and batteries. They align with EU resilience and CE priorities, relevant to multiple sectors. This prioritisation grounds the Working Groups’ roadmap development in real-world, high-impact IS practices. Action Line 3: Stakeholder-Driven Co-Creation of the Roadmap via Thematic Working Groups (WGs). In 2025, RISERS launched ten WGs to co-create the Roadmap: seven sectoral groups (e.g. metals, batteries) and three horizontal groups on cross-cutting themes (e.g. end-of-waste, data exchange) (image uploaded below). Their work is informed by: Policy consultations (FhG and ISL) on regulatory bottlenecks like End-of-Waste criteria and by-product classifications; Interviews with policymakers (FhG) and IS practitioners (UGent) providing real-time technical and operational perspectives; Action Line 4: Aligning Technical and Policy Frameworks for IS RISERS prioritised aligning IS standardisation with evolving EU regulatory frameworks, especially the interplay between End-of-Waste (EoW) criteria and by-product definitions. Consultations with policymakers led to policy recommendations published June 2025, guiding the WGs. In-depth interviews captured diverse stakeholder insights on gaps, bottlenecks, and limitations in the IS standardisation landscape, informing the roadmap’s second phase. Action Line 5: Advancing Integration of R&I into Standardisation RISERS laid groundwork for translating IS R&I into standardisation through coordination with projects like Horizon Europe CORALIS, SYMBA, EURO-TITAN, LIAISE COST Action, TRILATE, and DEREMCO, exploring synergies. Action Line 6: Communication and Dissemination RISERS implemented a broad communication strategy, showcasing the project at 21 events and organising 11. It reached over 1,000 external participants and 300 project event attendees. 14 communication materials were published, a LinkedIn community grew beyond 300 followers, and the project website attracted 2,500+ unique visitors. These efforts foster an engaged IS standardisation community across Europe.
RISERS delivers wide-reaching impact on IS advancement across Europe by mapping the IS standardisation landscape and providing evidence-based prioritisation of standards addressing unmet needs and systemic barriers while ensuring cross-sector alignment. The definition of high-impact IS synergies grounds the IS Standardisation Roadmap in real-world transformative practices, maximising relevance and adoption while guiding policy priorities, investments, and innovation.
Mid-term policy recommendations create a supportive regulatory environment, reducing uncertainty around key legal concepts (especially EoW and by-product definitions) to accelerate regulatory uptake and align standardisation with evolving EU regulations. The Stakeholder-Driven Roadmap ensures future standards are operationally realistic and regulatory-compatible, enabling smoother industry adoption and stronger market alignment.
Mid-term policy recommendations create a supportive regulatory environment, reducing uncertainty around key legal concepts (especially EoW and by-product definitions) to accelerate regulatory uptake and align standardisation with evolving EU regulations. The Stakeholder-Driven Roadmap ensures future standards are operationally realistic and regulatory-compatible, enabling smoother industry adoption and stronger market alignment.