Modeling Industrial Symbiosis to Reduce CO ₂ Emissions in a Portuguese Industrial Park

High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide This work introduces a novel optimization framework that integrates carbon capture and utilization (CCU) technologies into industrial symbiosis (IS) networks, promoting circular economy objectives in industrial parks. We develop a mixed-integer linear programming model in Pyomo that uses a network-flow formulation coupled with life-cycle assessment to calculate the environmental impacts while maximizing material reuse. Applied to Portugal’s largest industrial complex, the framework identifies 21 economically viable exchange pathways enabling the annual reutilization of 1.87 million tonnes of process materials. Integrating a CCU-based methanol synthesis unit achieves up to 644 kton CO 2 eq reduction of direct emission per year. Unlike traditional IS studies, our model embeds CCU technologies directly into the exchange network and accommodates planned capacity expansions. These results demonstrate the framework’s potential for the wide-scale deployment of CCU-driven symbiosis strategies to deliver substantial CO 2 eq reductions and resource efficiency gains.