Circular Ecosystems Joins IEA Industrial Energy Programme to Advance Circular Ecosystem Design of Global Industrial Transition

Circular Ecosystems has joined the International Energy Agency’s Industrial Energy-related Technology and Systems Technology Collaboration Programme (IEA IETS TCP), connecting CE’s circular ecosystem intelligence with one of the most influential global platforms for industrial decarbonisation. This step signals that circular ecosystem strategy is now firmly part of mainstream industrial energy transition thinking, not a niche sustainability add-on.​​

Why this move matters

Industrial value chains are under pressure to become more energy efficient, low carbon, and resilient while staying competitive. The IEA IETS TCP convenes governments, researchers, and industry to develop and deploy advanced industrial energy technologies and system-level solutions across sectors such as steel, chemicals, and pulp and paper. By joining, Circular Ecosystems brings a whole-of-ecosystem lens into a space that has historically focused on plant-level efficiency and individual technologies.​​

About the IEA IETS TCP

The IETS TCP is one of the IEA’s Technology Collaboration Programmes focused on industrial energy-related technologies and systems, spanning everything from process integration and electrification to digitalisation, waste heat use, and renewables integration. Its work is organised into international tasks and annexes that co-develop methods, tools, and best practice for improving energy efficiency and cutting emissions across industrial plants, clusters, and value chains. This framework is increasingly aligned with circular economy and industrial symbiosis initiatives that seek to close energy and material loops at regional scale.​​

What Circular Ecosystems brings

Circular Ecosystems starts from the premise that industry operates in ecosystems, not isolated facilities, with energy as one of the most critical threads connecting companies, infrastructure, regulators, and capital. Through its CE Decision Support System, CE maps whole-of-ecosystem flows of materials, energy, and value, runs dynamic scenarios, and identifies high-leverage interventions across clusters and value chains.

Within the IETS TCP community, CE will contribute:​​

• Circular industrial system and cluster strategy expertise.​

• A decision support platform to make complex industrial-energy systems visible and actionable for decision makers.​​

• A transition broker role linking industry, policy, technology providers, and investors, particularly for first-of-a-kind industrial projects.​​

  
  

Why this matters for clients and partners

For industrial operators, cluster leaders, developers, and governments, CE’s participation in the IETS TCP means their ecosystem strategies are now directly connected to emerging global norms, policy directions, and technical standards on industrial energy. Approaches and tools used in projects will be tested and refined alongside international experts, strengthening confidence for boards, investors, and regulators while opening new channels to research partners, technology providers, and peer companies tackling similar transition challenges. For investors and capital providers, it signals that circular ecosystem strategies and CE’s decision support capabilities sit within the mainstream of serious, system-level industrial transition work.​​

Looking ahead

Through the IEA IETS TCP, Circular Ecosystems will focus on co-developing and trialling practical methods for whole-of-ecosystem industrial energy planning, with a particular focus on first-of-a-kind and early commercial projects that blend circular design, decarbonisation, and new business models. The goal is to ensure that the realities of industrial companies, clusters, and regions shape the next generation of industrial energy and circularity frameworks, so that the future industrial system is more electrified, more digital, more circular, and more interconnected—and navigable with clarity and confidence.​​