On 21 January 2025, the European Aluminium Innovation Hub hosted a webinar on industrial symbiosis in the aluminium industry as part of the Horizon 2020 CORALIS project, which actively collaborates with the RISERS project. The event showcased innovative strategies for resource efficiency, focusing on how industries can transform by-products into valuable resources, reduce waste, and advance circular economy practices through collaboration.
The webinar highlighted best practices and approaches from four European projects driving the scale-up of industrial symbiosis in the aluminium sector:
- CORALIS Project (https://www.coralis-h2020.eu/): Presented insights from implementation in Brescia, Italy, where by-products from steel, cast iron, and aluminium production are converted into raw materials for other industries.
- REACTIV Project (https://reactivproject.eu/): Showcased the transformation of bauxite residue into a sustainable alternative for clinker in cement production, reducing waste and CO₂ emissions.
- BAUXAL II Project (https://www.bauxal2.com/): Demonstrated innovative recycling of salt slag, a hazardous waste from aluminium recycling, into refractory-grade bauxite.
- SAIS-SPIRE Project (https://www.aspire2050.eu/sais): Focused on skill development and training to support effective industrial symbiosis implementation across sectors, including aluminium.
These initiatives directly complement the RISERS project’s mission to build resilient and efficient resource systems across sectors through standardization. Discussions emphasized scaling industrial symbiosis, addressing shared challenges, and leveraging EU-funded collaborations to drive systemic change.
The webinar’s focus aligns with RISERS’ commitment to enabling circular resource-sharing. Through its standardization roadmap, RISERS aims to address the challenges of industrial symbiosis while integrating research and innovation findings to establish comprehensive standards that support sustainable industrial practices.
