A win-win arrangement for neighbouring factories

• Industrial symbiosis between neighbouring businesses saves on energy and cuts emissions
• Waste heat from a metal plant is piped into a nearby malt factory, a win-win 

Aleris Rolled Products Germany GmbH produces semi-finished aluminium products, like sheets and strips. Their aluminium casting processes tended to produce a lot of unused waste heat. The neighbouring company, Avangard Malz AG, produces malt from brewing barley. For the drying process the company needs a huge amount of heat.

As an economic and environmental-friendly solution, the two companies decided to start a heat-exchange programme. A 1 200 m pipeline was built which transfers desalinated hot water from the casting process to the malt-drying chambers in a closed system.

Key benefits

This industrial symbiosis goes further; the heat-exchange circle means the malting plant no longer needs natural gas for its drying process, while the aluminium foundry can make money out of the previously unwanted heat they produce. The yearly CO2 emissions saved by Avangard Malz AG during drying comes to around 5 000 tonnes.