Background High emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) are the result of economic activities that do not take account of their environmental impact. To make a change on a local level, communities must be given decision-making powers. Across Europe, the lesson learned has been to build up a critical mass of interested partners in order to generate ideas for the reduction of emissions. Even complex ecosystems can be split down to their constituents parts, similarly to unit operations in engineering. How these elements combine will vary from one system to another, but it is possible to establish a common basis. The project promotes the structuring of socio-economic systems according to such a unit operations approach. Objectives The main aim of the ISIM-TCC project was to help the European Union reach its targets – as set by the Kyoto and the Bali Climate Change Meetings – for tackling climate change through the application of the principles of industrial symbiosis (IS) in the regions of Central Hungary. In general the project aimed to demonstrate that IS is an innovative tool for tackling climate change, given that IS encourages the prudent management of natural resources and finds opportunities for sustainable development. This would lead to the reduction in consumption of natural resources and the introduction of evidence-based development policies that lessen the environmental impact of companies. It would also promote integrated pollution prevention, improve the public image of the networking participants and raise awareness. The aim was to achieve a significant reduction in the CO2 emissions of partner companies and a 5-20% reduction in the use natural resources and waste generation. Results Around 540 potential synergies among companies using the IS methodology were identified by the project. Of these 72 synergies were concluded. In this way, the programme involved 1500 companies and institutes, twice the number foreseen. These synergies – matching companies with resources – lead to more efficient use of resources. As a result of the implementation of IS, the project calculated that 1188 tonnes of waste was diverted from landfill, 3751 tonnes of CO2 emissions were prevented, 1238 tonnes of virgin resources were saved and 26035 m3 water was saved. Given that data for each connected company was not specifically generated, it is difficult to gauge the success rate of the total amount of synergies completed. Nevertheless, in the Economic Benefit Report, seven types of industries are assessed and the economic benefits of the programme are described. In the Pre-feasibility Report, it was stated that Hungary produces 3.2 million tonnes of all kind of wastes that could potential be used as a resource. If resources and companies (which use the resource) are fully matched up – i.e. synergies are realised – then it would result in potential reduction of around 340 000 tonnes in CO2 equivalent and huge saving in landfill disposal costs. The project communicated the results to the government and national stakeholders. It also organised workshops, events and a final conference to promote long-term sustainable technologies. Partnerships created by the project are continuing, and the overall impact has been to raise the profile of environmental problems and their possible solutions. The project overcame the delay of the introduction of a new waste management law in the country, as well as the initial caution of stakeholders, and exceeded its goals. IS is serving as a valuable business model for creating partnerships for high resource efficiency. Furthermore, the implementation of this approach is expected to have an economic impact. Synergies will lead to lower production cost of processing waste, lower waste disposal costs and fewer penalties for environmental non-compliance. Finally, the project’s cooperation with Maltha Hungary led to the creation of two employment positions. Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report (see "Read more" section).