Industrial symbiosis (IS), pioneered in Denmark, is a ground-breaking approach to industrial development where one business’ wastes – energy, water, materials – become valuable resource inputs for others. IS offers rich economic, environmental and community benefits together. Over 200 PNW leaders have toured Denmark with CSI to see IS in action and to bring the benefits back home — as a result, innovative IS initiatives are now underway in over a dozen PNW communities.
Attendees will walk away with a better understanding of the IS network in the PNW, how Denmark is engaged in supporting these projects, and how to connect with both Danish and American partners at the upcoming Industrial Symbiosis Conference in Vancouver, Washington this June 28-30.
Featured Speakers:
Rhys Roth, Executive Director, Center for Sustainable Infrastructure
Rhys brings over 30 years of experience working at the intersection of economic opportunity and breakthrough sustainability. He founded and for the past 10 years has directed the Center for Sustainable Infrastructure (CSI). He also co-founded and helped lead for 15 years the nonprofit organization Climate Solutions.
At CSI, Rhys is lead author of several groundbreaking reports, each drawing on consultations with dozens of thought leaders and innovators in water, energy, waste management, and industrial symbiosis. Rhys has helped lead nearly a dozen community value planning projects through the CSI Innovation Lab, and spearheads high-impact Knowledge Exchange study tours and partnerships that have inspired and informed over 100 Northwest public and private leaders to serve as champions for clean industry and industrial symbiosis leadership.
Sarah Diemar, Commercial Advisor, Royal Embassy of Denmark
Sarah L. Diemar is a Commercial Advisor at the Danish Trade Council at the Royal Danish Embassy in Washington DC. She leads the Embassy’s work on industrial symbiosis, and sector coupling within the Future Energies Team, driving strategic initiatives at the intersection of industry, energy, and policy.
She works closely with U.S. state leadership, federal stakeholders, and industry partners to develop and operationalize cross-sector ecosystems that enable industrial decarbonization, biomanufacturing, and circular resource systems. Her work focuses on translating Danish models for industrial symbiosis into scalable, financeable projects in North America, with an emphasis on investment mobilization, policy alignment, and public–private collaboration.
With a background in commercial advisory, public–private partnerships, and international market development, she plays a central role in advancing Danish–U.S. cooperation on the industrial transition and positioning Danish solutions within emerging U.S. industrial strategies.
Maria Arlaud, Project Manager, State of Green
Maria Lind Arlaud is a Project Manager at State of Green, Denmark’s public–private partnership for promoting sustainable solutions globally. She heads the partnership’s activities within the industrial green transition, engaging public and private decisionmakers all over the world in the conversation about how to secure resource efficient, resilient, and competitive industries and communities. It is in this capacity that she has supported the knowledge exchange between Denmark and the PNW on industrial symbioses over the past 3 years. She also hosts the podcast Sound of Green and will lead the Danish business delegation to COP31 in Antalya in November. She holds a master’s degree in political science from the University of Copenhagen.