Study visit to the Sotenäs Symbiosis Centre provided new insights into circular collaborations between land and sea

Real industrial symbiosis – Sotenäs Symbioscentrum

The visit began at Sotenäs Symbioscentrum, a hub for industrial symbiosis. Here, companies collaborate on waste streams from the seafood industry, biogas production and marine waste recycling, among other things.

The participants then visited Rena Hav to discuss how residual products that were previously considered waste on the site are now converted into biogas, with the residue being converted into KRAV-certified fertiliser. The tour clearly demonstrated how the Sotenäs model reduces environmental impact and strengthens regional competitiveness, which is fully in line with the project's ambition to promote sustainable collaboration between land and sea.

Klevs Gård -  Bringing the circles together through agriculture

The study visit continued to Klevs Gård, where participants were guided around a farm that successfully uses KRAV-certified fertiliser from Sotenäs in its organic cultivation.

The farm's work with pyrolysis biochar, produced on site, was particularly impressive. Biochar improves soil health and increases water retention capacity. It also contributes to long-term carbon storage, which is an important step towards climate-positive farming systems. Participants saw how biochar is produced in practice and how it, together with marine waste streams, builds robust local cycles.

Knowledge exchange and discussions about the future

Over the course of three days, dynamic discussions were held about how industrial symbiosis parks could be structured and implemented in more regions according to need. Project manager Eleonora Borén emphasised the importance of learning from companies' experiences of collaborating through symbiosis. 

"Industrial symbiosis can be designed in many different ways, depending on the needs of those involved, the geographical conditions, the sensitivity of the area and the availability of waste streams. It is important to learn how these collaborations have been designed and to hear about the experiences of those involved, in order to facilitate the establishment of future industrial parks.”

The conference clearly demonstrated that locally adapted, knowledge-based collaborations are essential for creating sustainable and scalable circular systems.

“The business community wants to see concrete examples, right down to how collaborations and agreements are structured.’ This event established valuable business contacts between Sweden and Norway, which will be a major asset in the future when it comes to establishing concrete circular business collaborations”, says Kristine Fagerland of Val Skoler.

The study visit is an important part of the cross-border project

The study visit is a central part of the cross-border project “Circular Synergies between Land and Sea” The project is run by RISE together with Namdal Regionråd, Umeå University, and Torsta AB. The project aims to develop and test circular solutions where waste streams from fish farms create new value as fertilizer for land-based farming, and to strengthen the long-term sustainable development of the project regions by working with industrial symbiosis as a tool for circular establishments.  

The experiences from the visit to Sotenäs are now being carried forward in the project's ongoing work, with the aim of establishing stronger, more resilient and more resource-efficient circular cycles.

Read more about the project here:  https://www.ri.se/en/system-innovation/circular-transition/project/circ…