A CIRCULAR ECONOMY APPROACH TO TURN WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITIES IN SLAUGHTERHOUSES INTO "BIO-REFINERIES"
COMMERCIAL OUTCOMES
Wastewater treatment
Integrated system to treat wastewater while recovering nutrients consisting of a novel combination of technologies and processes in cascade maximising the extraction of valuable products. The system can be customised according to the needs of the end user.
Raw materials extracted from slaughterhouse
3 different raw materials which will be the basis for further manufacturing the agronomic products. These raw materials, concretely nitrate and phosphate concentrate, hydrolysed sludge and algal biomass, will be obtained at different stages of the process.
Agronomic products
3 agronomic products manufactured in production lines built up within the Water2REturn project, free of pathogens and pollutants and ready to be commercialised: 1 organic fertiliser and 2 biostimulants, that will enhance nutrition efficiency, abiotic stress tolerance and/or crop quality traits.
REcovery and REcycling of nutrients TURNing wasteWATER into added-value products for a circular economy in agriculture
RESOURCE-ORIENTED SOLUTIONS FOR WASTEWATER TREATMENT
A REAL TECHNOLOGICAL BREAKTHROUGH BASED ON THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY APPROACH
In a world in which resources are being used up, there is rising demand for alternative and sustainable solutions to cope with foreseen shortages. Focusing on two relevant economic sectors, slaughtering and the manufacture of agronomic products, both important for human nourishment, Water2REturn proposes to use a Circular Economy approach to turn wastewater treatment facilities in slaughterhouses into "bio-refineries".
Water2REturn is an Innovation Action co-funded by the European Commission under its Horizon 2020 (H2020) programme. It is coordinated by BIOAZUL company (Malaga, Spain) and is focused on the recovery and recycling of nutrients from slaughterhouse wastewater in the framework of a Circular Economy model. Nutrients recovered are turned into value added products for the agro-chemical industry and, consequently, for the agricultural sector.
Water2REturn target customers are:
Slaughterhouses industry → early adopters.
Meat processing industry.
Bio-agronomic products’ distributors.
Agricultural sector → conventional and organic farmers.
NEWS AND EVENTS
Water2REturn OBJECTIVES
The consortium aims to:
REDUCE wastewater discharge by 90%
SAVE up to 40% of fresh water in the meat industry
RECOVER up to 95% of the nutrients contained in the wastewater
PRODUCE up to 4.19% of total chemical N-fertilisers consumed in EU
PROJECT CONSORTIUM
Who makes Water2REturn possible?
WATER2RETURN DEMONSTRATOR
Demonstrator design and implementation – slaughterhouse wastewater treatment and reuse: BIOAZUL and CENTA.
Demonstrator design and implementation – fermentation process: USE.
Demonstrator design and implementation – anaerobic digestion and biogas valorisation process: UCA and ADVENTECH.
Demonstrator design and implementation – algal treatment: UL and ALGEN.
Demonstrator design and implementation – monitoring and control tool: ISITEC.
Agronomic valorisation – agronomic products manufacturing: KIMITEC.
Agronomic valorisation – agronomic products testing and use: SLOROM and ELO.
Environmental, economic, social and risk assessment: 2B and EXERGY.
Market update: ENCO.
Capacity building and awareness raising: UECBV and ELO.
