Every year, European industry generates vast amounts of excess heat that is simply released into the environment instead of being reused. Recovering this unused energy represents one of the greatest opportunities to improve industrial energy efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen industrial competitiveness. The ERER project was established to accelerate the adoption of industrial waste heat recovery solutions by helping companies identify practical opportunities to recover and reuse energy that would otherwise be lost.
While many waste heat recovery technologies already exist, widespread implementation remains limited. Companies often face technical, financial and organisational barriers that make it difficult to evaluate the feasibility of new solutions or justify investment. Rather than developing a single new technology, the ERER project focused on helping industries better understand existing solutions, exchange knowledge and accelerate the practical deployment of energy recovery measures across Europe.
What is the ERER Project?
The ERER project was created to support the wider adoption of industrial waste heat recovery and energy efficiency practices within Europe’s energy-intensive industries.
Many industrial processes generate significant amounts of excess heat during production. In many cases, this heat is discharged into the atmosphere even though it could be recovered and reused within the same facility or supplied to nearby industrial processes, district heating networks or other energy users. Recovering this energy can substantially reduce fuel consumption, lower operating costs and decrease greenhouse gas emissions.
The ERER project worked to identify the barriers that prevent companies from implementing waste heat recovery technologies and developed practical approaches to help industries evaluate available solutions. Instead of focusing solely on technical innovation, the project addressed the broader challenges that often delay implementation, including investment uncertainty, organisational complexity and limited access to practical knowledge.
By bringing together industrial companies, technical experts, policymakers and other stakeholders, ERER helped create an environment where knowledge and experience could be shared more effectively, supporting faster uptake of proven energy recovery solutions.
Why Industrial Waste Heat Recovery Matters
Industrial waste heat recovery is recognised as one of the most cost-effective ways to improve industrial energy efficiency.
Across sectors such as steel, chemicals, cement, glass, ceramics and food processing, large quantities of thermal energy are generated during production. Recovering even a portion of this energy can significantly reduce primary energy demand while lowering carbon emissions and operating costs.
Improving waste heat recovery also contributes to Europe’s wider energy transition. By reducing fuel consumption, companies become less dependent on imported fossil energy and more resilient to energy price volatility. At the same time, improved energy efficiency helps industries remain competitive while supporting European climate objectives.
Despite these clear benefits, many companies still struggle to identify suitable recovery opportunities or assess the economic viability of potential investments. This implementation gap was one of the central challenges addressed by the ERER project.
Helping Industry Turn Potential into Action
A distinguishing feature of the ERER project was its focus on implementation rather than technology development.
The project recognised that industrial decarbonisation depends not only on innovative technologies but also on providing companies with the knowledge, confidence and practical guidance needed to adopt existing solutions.
ERER therefore combined technical assessments with industrial case studies, stakeholder workshops, conferences and collaborative exchange activities. These initiatives enabled companies to learn directly from practical experience while gaining a better understanding of available technologies, financing mechanisms and implementation pathways.
The project also promoted dialogue between industry, researchers, technology providers and policymakers, helping strengthen cooperation across the European industrial ecosystem. This collaborative approach encouraged the exchange of best practices and supported more informed decision-making regarding industrial energy investments.
By improving awareness and implementation readiness, ERER helped reduce some of the non-technical barriers that often prevent companies from investing in industrial waste heat recovery.
Supporting Europe’s Low-Carbon Industrial Transition
The transition towards climate-neutral industry requires more than breakthrough technologies. Many of the solutions needed to reduce industrial emissions already exist but remain underutilised due to limited knowledge, fragmented information or uncertainty surrounding implementation.
The ERER project contributed to addressing these challenges by improving access to reliable information, practical examples and stakeholder collaboration. Through its activities, the project demonstrated that knowledge sharing and capacity building are essential components of industrial decarbonisation.
Increasing the adoption of industrial waste heat recovery not only reduces emissions but also improves resource efficiency and strengthens Europe’s industrial resilience. Recovering energy that would otherwise be wasted enables companies to make better use of existing resources while lowering production costs and reducing environmental impact.
Projects such as ERER help ensure that proven energy efficiency solutions can move more rapidly from technical potential to widespread industrial application.
Why the ERER Project Matters
The ERER project demonstrated that improving industrial waste heat recovery is not simply a technical challenge but also an organisational and strategic one. By supporting companies with practical guidance, stakeholder engagement and knowledge exchange, the project helped accelerate the implementation of solutions that are already capable of delivering substantial environmental and economic benefits.
As Europe continues to pursue a climate-neutral economy, industrial waste heat recovery will remain one of the most effective ways to reduce energy consumption, lower emissions and improve industrial competitiveness. The ERER project has shown that combining technical expertise with collaboration and implementation support can play an important role in accelerating Europe’s low-carbon industrial transition.
Programme Acknowledgement
The ERER project was supported under the Sustainable Industry Low Carbon (SILC) initiative, promoting industrial energy efficiency and the low-carbon transition across Europe.
Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or associated programme authorities. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
