Industrial symbiosis at work

The Industrial symbiosis is the key enabling factor to effect the transition towards circular economy.


The principle behind “industrial symbiosis” is quite simple; instead of being landfilled or eliminated via incineration, waste generated by an industrial process are redirected for use as a ‘new’ input into another process by one or more other companies, providing a mutual benefit or “symbiosis”.

Today, Geocycle builds industrial symbiosis with many waste producers like the chemical or petroleum industries to redirect their waste into our cement process. Discover the Serbia example “from contaminated lagoons to rehabilitated farmland”.


Co-processing is a sustainable development concept based on the principles of industrial ecology focusing on the potential role of industry in reducing environmental burdens throughout the product life cycle.

(Mutz et al., 2007; Karstensen, 2009a)

One of the most important goals of industrial ecology is to make one industry’s waste another’s raw material.

(OECD, 2000)

Within the cement industry the use of wastes as fuel and raw materials is a positive, forward-thinking example.

extract from United Nations Environment Programme Basel Convention - Technical guidelines on the environmentally sound co-processing of hazardous wastes in cement kilns.