Oregon legislators hear industrial symbiosis pitch; businesses urge funding for HB 3,246

Chair Lively opened the House Climate, Energy, and Environment Committee’s June 3 informational meeting on industrial symbiosis, where business and port leaders outlined projects that convert industrial waste streams into usable products and urged support for House Bill 3,246.

Industrial symbiosis is an approach in which one facility’s waste streams — energy, water or materials — become inputs for other businesses, speakers said. Rhys Roth, Executive Director of the Center for Sustainable Infrastructure, told lawmakers that industrial symbiosis has been widely used in Denmark and that Washington state recently appropriated $5,000,000 for grants and technical assistance to scale similar work. "Industrial symbiosis is an approach to infrastructure development, where facilities' waste streams, such as energy, water, and materials, become valuable resources and inputs for other businesses," Roth said.

The…