• Wuhan university of science and technology (WUST)
• Foreign and Commonwealth office (FCO)
• International Synergies

International Synergies were part of the “driving the low carbon transition through cross-industry waste utilisation in infrastructure delivery in Wuhan, Hubei” project which was supported the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The need for the project arose from the sustainability issues attached to Wuhan’s “strategic plan for integrated urban development”, as it included mega infrastructure projects. Industrial symbiosis was highlighted as a solution to these issues. Integrated into infrastructure investments leads to a reduction in both carbon emissions and the demand on virgin resources while reducing cost.

The project focused on policy engagement with Wuhan Development Reform Commission to elevate the discussion to a strategic level through the government planning process. The project’s main aim was to develop a roadmap to deliver a minimum of 200,000 tonnes of landfill diversion with associated 20,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of CO2 emissions avoided.  This outcome provided substantially greater and longer-term carbon reduction than a one-off purchase of carbon credits in the market.

International Synergies worked with Wuhan DRC and Wuhan University of Science and Technology (WUST), to produce the following:

• A set of policy recommendations to Wuhan DRC that incentivise better circular economy practice and a lower carbon footprint in Wuhan’s construction industry.
• A prioritised map of the potential to reduce carbon (and cost) while delivering the infrastructure identified in the Wuhan 2017 plan (metros, airports, roads, and buildings)
• An analysis of where existing policy enables or creates barriers to this low-carbon delivery through industrial symbiosis (for example, current policy precludes the substitution of used solvents as fuel in the cement industry, yet this replaces virgin fossil fuel use)