On 25-27 June 2018, the Energy Office Sydost organized a so-called "Staff Exchange". Sara Picone and Ugo Mencherini from ASTER in Bologna, Italy, visited Kronoberg to look at examples of circular economics in practice. Energy Office Southeastern Pierre Ståhl and Sarah Nilsson arranged the visit, which was actually commenced in Malmö city, one of the forerunners in Sweden on industrial and urban symbiosis. The city has created a vision for and incorporated industrial symbiosis into its urban plans.
The following day started with a visit to the IKEA Museum in Älmhult, where a guide told us about the journey the global company has begun towards a more sustainable company. One tool is to use democratic design where sustainability is one of five core values. Växjö biogas production from household waste gave an insight into how a typical Swedish municipality uses waste as raw material for green vehicle fuel.
Last day, Volvo CE announced its methods of becoming a carbon-neutral production site and approaching zero landfill.
The exchange also gave an introduction to how a typical Midsummer celebration in Swedish goes on. Finally, see the big picture Sweden win over Mexico in the World Cup.
The visit was organized within the TRIS project, which aims to build knowledge about the economic and environmental benefits of industrial symbiosis.
