Circular business is about partnership and teamwork

The malting sector is a major consumer of energy; Boortmalt’s consumption is around 2 terawatt hours per year, three-quarters of which is in the form of heat and a quarter in the form of electricity. It goes without saying that we are keen to reduce our consumption further and make it greener. The collaboration with Indaver started with a wild idea from two company managers, and it took a long time to gestate into a feasible and licensable project. Decarbonisation costs money, but we think it’s so important that we want to play a leading role in our sector. That’s reflected in our targets (Science Based Technology initiative): by mid-2030 we aim to have reduced our net CO₂ emissions by 50%, and by 2035 we hope to be climate-neutral. That means our climate goals are even more ambitious than those in the Paris Climate Agreement, which sets this target for 2050.
Currently, we are already saving around 30 000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions a year by using residual heat from Indaver. Finding the solution so close at hand was an eye-opener, though. That’s why we now always scan the local area when we are looking to decarbonise a site. Boortmalt not only uses a lot of energy, but also a lot of water. It’s inherent in our production process: you have to bring the barley grains 'to life' by immersing them in water up to three times. We used to drain away that water every time. Now we are working on reusing it, by using membrane filtration, reverse osmosis and other techniques. Instead of using 3000 litres of water for every tonne of malt, we are looking to get the figure below 2000 litres per tonne by 2030. So we’ve effectively also created our own circular circuit - including for our own waste heat, as it happens.

In the circular economy, you are working among other things with residual streams. Those residual streams are worth money. Yet some think they should be free because otherwise they would be lost anyway. But that's not true: capturing those residual streams requires investment. Moreover, it’s a long-term commitment. As a benchmark, you could apply the principle that a circular product, for example heat generated from waste, should not be more expensive than a linear product, such as heat generated from gas. The 'no more than usual' principle, if you like. While doing so, do keep in mind the social cost.
Actually, circular business doesn’t always require major investments: setting up an energy community or an energy sharing initiative is a lot cheaper than investing in a heat network, for example. As an SME, you could for example invest in solar panels and make the proceeds available to your employees. Or vice versa, of course.

In the circular economy, you are working among other things with residual streams. Those residual streams are worth money. Yet some think they should be free because otherwise they would be lost anyway. But that's not true: capturing those residual streams requires investment. Moreover, it’s a long-term commitment. As a benchmark, you could apply the principle that a circular product, for example heat generated from waste, should not be more expensive than a linear product, such as heat generated from gas. The 'no more than usual' principle, if you like. While doing so, do keep in mind the social cost.
Actually, circular business doesn’t always require major investments: setting up an energy community or an energy sharing initiative is a lot cheaper than investing in a heat network, for example. As an SME, you could for example invest in solar panels and make the proceeds available to your employees. Or vice versa, of course.

The Port Authority used to be a landlord that could afford to focus entirely on building docks, quay walls and locks. Today, Port of Antwerp-Bruges has assumed the role of community builder; we know our port users and act as a neutral party. We put the companies on our site in contact with each other. And we take a seat as a partner at the table to help facilitate major investments, for example for the Antwerp North and Ecluse heat networks..
We are also strongly committed to recycling raw materials. It’s not just a matter of improving efficiency, but also of geopolitical considerations: circularity is one of the most important factors in securing our supply of raw materials in the future. That’s why we are now giving space on the former Opel site in Antwerp to companies that recycle raw materials, such as propylene and polyurethane, from things such as mattresses, insulation panels, car tyres, and so on, and also to companies which design new processes. But of course it doesn't stop there. In addition to having the necessary space and adequate policies, it will be a particular challenge to secure continuous access to the volumes of raw materials needed, and, of course, to find customers who are willing to work with recycled raw materials.

In the city of Antwerp, we are aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% by 2030 compared to 2005. If we can use waste heat from the port area to heat homes in the city, we are already taking a big step towards achieving that goal. The aim is that, by 2030, 10% of heat should come from heat networks. To achieve that will require a critical mass of customers (for example the social housing owned by the Woonhaven housing association), continuity of customers (such as Boortmalt), and stable 'suppliers' of waste heat (such as Indaver).
If the regional government wants heat networks to be designed so that multiple producers and customers can connect to them later – and it does – it must also provide a stable subsidy framework to help finance the initial excess capacity. In addition, the government can also take a financial stake in the public infrastructure for those networks and in the installations needed to connect companies to them. We are doing that in Antwerp, too, through the public investment company FINEG. This reduces costs for the companies concerned and enables them to keep these investments off the balance sheet.
There is also an important social aspect, and we try to make it more accessible. For instance, we have temporarily waived the payment of municipal surcharges for groups of existing owners connecting to the heat network. And finally, we are seeing a lot of technology ‘push’ from the government, but too little pull from the market. For instance, the government could stimulate market demand for ‘green’ steel by providing guidelines on the use of materials in new products in the market, in addition to formulating end-of-life standards.
A city can act as a matchmaker between the supply and demand side of the energy market, but a broader approach would be even better. For example, the energy policy agreements that energy-intensive companies enter into with the Flemish government provide us with a lot of data on waste heat and heat demand. A neutral party could match up those two factors. A kind of Tinder for heat and energy, that's what we need! Maybe something for VITO?