20. Jun 2018

Exploring - and exploiting - the potential of sewage

Exploring - and exploiting - the potential of sewage

Sewage contains valuable substances that can be used as raw materials for biobased products. It is, however, a resource whose potential still remains to be fully realized.

The Interreg North-West Europe project WOW! - Wider business Opportunities for raw materials from Waste water – has been set up to do precisely that.

The project was recently launched with 12 partners from 6 countries. WOW! aims to make the transition to a more circular approach by matching supply and demand of cellulose, lipids and bioplastics (PHA) from sewage.
At the end of May, the WOW! consortium came together for the project kick off. Partners from the UK, France, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands gathered to meet each other and discuss the content.

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There are market opportunities for raw materials from sewage, but for this the sewage treatment plants and the industry need alignment. This calls for a transition: sewage treatment plants need to switch from treating sewage to producing valuable materials. On the other hand, market parties need to regard sewage as a valuable source instead of ‘dirty unsafe water’. Last but not least, the policies should better fit this new circular practice. To realize these opportunities the consortium aims to develop value chains for three different raw materials from sewage: cellulose, PHA bioplastics and lipids.

The following activities will be part of the project:

• Identify high potential value chains for raw materials from sewage.
• Develop a Decision Support Tool that guides sewage treatment plants in their transition towards a circular approach on sewage.
• Build and run three WOW! pilots to optimize and implement innovative recovery and upcycling techniques.
• Create bioproducts made out of sewage, such as bioplastics, biofuel and bio-char.
• Create national policy action plans and an EU policy roadmap.

The consortium is made up of the following members:

• Water authority Vallei en Veluwe
• Wupperverbandsgesellschaft für integrale Wasserwirtschaft
• Technische Universität Kaiserlautern
• Université du Luxembourg
• VLARIO
• Natureplast
• Avans Hogeschool
• REMONDIS Aqua Industrie
• VITO
• Pulsed Heat
• CirTec
• Severn Trent Water

WOW! is supported by the Interreg North-West Europe program, http://www.nweurope.eu


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