From data to opportunities

The project runs from source data to a working platform. Starting from the waste data of the National Waste Reporting Point, an expert assessment follows, leading to a selection of business parks. Those parks are linked to eco-costs, circular potential and the conditions for circularity. The result is a set of circular material streams and opportunities, forming the basis for a platform for exchanging material flows between businesses at business parks.

The national waste database

The research uses the database of the National Waste Reporting Point, made available by the regional environmental agency. It records larger business waste streams, broken down by, among other things, the waste stream number, the Eural code, origin and destination, the processing method, and the number of kilos and loads per period.

Waste processors and storage and transshipment locations were manually filtered out of the data. The focus is on the primary generators: the companies where the waste originates. Route collection of residual waste falls outside the reporting obligation and is therefore not visible in the data.

Fifteen business parks

Arriving at fifteen business parks involved an expert assessment based on data, in consultation with the municipality and entrepreneurs. Selection criteria were the earning potential and scale of circular potential, an initial scan of streams and opportunities for high-value reuse, the degree of innovation, the degree of organisation, the presence of circular activities, and where energy exists among municipalities and entrepreneurs.

Value and environmental impact

Two values were determined for each waste stream. The potential value is the price of new material per tonne; the current value is the price paid or received as waste. The difference is the maximum circular potential. Eco-costs, expressed per euro of added value, were used for environmental impact.

In total, more than 500 waste streams were identified, reduced to 20 main Eural categories.

Seven promising streams

Based on the residual flows released at all business parks in Groningen, the most promising materials for the circular economy were determined. These are relatively clean streams, aside from industrial sludge, where substantial value remains to be recovered and for which concrete opportunities can be identified.

The selection per park was made using a cross-section of streams with more than a hundred loads per year, more than ten generators, consisting of non-toxic materials suitable for circular processing.

Promising stream per park

For each business park, the most promising stream that readily lends itself to a business case was determined, along with a second potential stream.

Ready to apply

Concrete processing routes were developed for the largest streams.

• Industrial sludge — €20.1 million. With supercritical water, thickened sludge is brought to high pressure and temperature, releasing reusable CO₂ and energy-rich biogas. The business case works provided the installation is built at sufficient scale and the gas is used for green gas.
• Timber — €10.3 million. Timber lends itself well to direct reuse, with roughly €850 potential per tonne. The bottleneck is that careful, circular demolition is still uncommon, meaning wood waste is not separated and does not qualify for high-value reuse.
• Plastic — €5.4 million. A plastic press compresses waste at the point where it arises and reduces volume by up to 75%. At the Groningen sites, roughly 1,320 kg of plastic per load moves across 2,078 loads; pressing could save around 1,800 loads in total.
• Textiles — €4.2 million. Defibring and reusing cotton saves land, raw materials and water. Including environmental costs, defibring yields roughly €15 per kilogram.
• Plant material — €1.3 million. Compaction makes transport up to forty times more efficient. At Stadskanaal and Dideldom, around 1,300 loads were needed for 850 tonnes; local processing towards compost or digestion saves dozens of loads.

Organic waste

Several routes were weighed for organic streams. Composting is a high-value form of recycling applicable at large scale, though most is already recycled. Biogas adds energy alongside raw material and has a strong business case, but requires a higher environmental category for the site. Decentralisation sharply reduces transport volume, since organic waste consists largely of moisture. Solutions higher on the R-ladder deliver the highest-value form of reuse and prevent waste.

The platform

The analyses are made accessible interactively. At circulair.biz, data per business park is made visible, from the size in hectares to the percentage of recycled materials, and Sankey diagrams show the materials released and the degree of circularity per processing method. These insights form the basis for a platform on which businesses can exchange material streams with each other.

Method and source

Also read the exploration of a circular materials cluster and the analysis of urban mining of construction and demolition waste.

How to cite

New Economy (2022). Circular Business Parks Groningen. Available via neweconomy.eco.

Download the report

• Circular Business Parks Groningen (PDF) The full report with the approach, the promising raw material streams, the potential per material and the concrete processing routes. Download the report (PDF)