LIAISE – Industrial Symbiosis COST Action

The Lab participates in the proposed LIAISE COST Action, a European research and collaboration initiative focused on advancing Industrial Symbiosis as a driver of circular economy transition. The initiative brings together academia, industry and policymakers to strengthen knowledge development, promote technology transfer and support cross-border cooperation across Europe.

Background

The transition towards a circular economy has become a central priority within the European Green Deal and the Circular Economy Action Plan. Within this context, Industrial Symbiosis is increasingly recognised as an innovative model that enables organisations to reduce waste, improve resource efficiency and create new forms of economic and environmental value through collaboration.

Why It Matters

Despite growing policy attention, the circular economy remains limited in practice. The concept note highlights key barriers to the wider adoption of Industrial Symbiosis, including low awareness, insufficient technological development, limited market uptake and the absence of common standards for measuring and reporting transactions.

Strategic Objective

The main objective of LIAISE is to generate synergies among academics, researchers, industry actors and policymakers, laying the foundation for stronger knowledge development and future result-oriented research and innovation. The initiative aims to support the uptake of Industrial Symbiosis across EU Member States and neighbouring countries.

Core Areas of Action

The initiative is structured around a set of strategic goals, including:

• promoting Industrial Symbiosis among industry actors, especially SMEs

• influencing public authorities and policymakers towards standards and incentives

• supporting young researchers working in Industrial Symbiosis

• encouraging waste reuse among companies

• stimulating partnerships for research and technological projects

• strengthening connections between stakeholders, academia and industry

• boosting technology transfer from universities and research centres to industry

Working Groups

The concept note proposes a multidisciplinary structure organised around five technical Working Groups:

• Industrial Symbiosis strategies and best practices

• Resource Recovery

• Industrial Symbiosis KPIs framework

• Twin Transition

• Network development, sustainability and dissemination of results

Relevance to the Lab

The LIAISE initiative aligns closely with the Lab’s broader research and applied work on circular economy, waste valorisation, sustainability strategies and knowledge transfer. It reflects the Lab’s role not only in local and national projects, but also in wider European research ecosystems that connect policy, innovation and implementation.

Impact

By contributing to initiatives such as LIAISE, the Lab strengthens its participation in European-level dialogue on circular economy and Industrial Symbiosis, supporting the development of collaborative frameworks that connect research, industry and policy towards more sustainable production systems.