H2020 Water2REturn Project: Nutrient Recovery and Recycling CONVERTING WASTEWATER INTO VALUE-ADDED PRODUCTS FOR A CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN AGRICULTURE
- Type Project
- Status Filled
- Execution 2017 -2022
- Assigned Budget 5.871.895,76 €
- Scope Europeo
- Main source of financing H2020
- Project website Water2REturn
W2R's main achievements are:
- Development of an integrated wastewater treatment system for the slaughterhouse, consisting of three separate process units (water line, sludge line, algae line) and an energy recovery module (energy line). The water line treats wastewater, meeting EU requirements for discharge from urban wastewater treatment plants. The sludge line disinfects the sludge and increases the availability of soluble content. The energy line produces energy after an anaerobic digestion process. The algae line produces algal biomass.
- Obtaining three secondary raw materials (SRM): a nutrient concentrate from the water line, a hydrolyzed sludge from the sludge line, and an algal biomass from the algae line.
- Formulation of three agronomic products (AP): one biofertilizer and two biostimulants. AP1 is a biofertilizer. It proved to be economically unprofitable if transported for biofertilizer manufacturing, but it is a great solution for fertigating surrounding fields, constituting a zero-kilometer solution. AP2 is a biostimulant. It was tested for several crops alongside two commercial products, and yields were found to be similar or better when applying AP2. AP3 is a biostimulant. It proved especially effective in advancing and homogenizing budding and flowering, achieving higher yields when applying AP3 instead of a chemical control.
- Development of W2R models for LCA, LCC and social footprint (including APs production) for two treatment capacities: the demonstration capacity (1/3 of the slaughterhouse's daily flow) and the actual slaughterhouse capacity.
- Development of the occupational health and safety risk assessment for the W2R system, identifying potential hazards and assessing associated risks, and suggesting prevention and mitigation options for the identified risks, as well as management recommendations, including APs.
- Evaluation of the feasibility of the W2R system in terms of the project's payback period, applying different scenarios for two treatment capacities of the system in the TEA.
- Development of an ETV for the Cascade Flash V.21 (a component of the sludge line). The Verification Body has concluded that there is a significant positive difference compared to alternative technologies.
- Continuous work is being done to identify and engage stakeholders to maximize the project's impact, focusing on specific stakeholder groups: the slaughterhouse industry, the wastewater treatment industry, the fertilizer industry, farmers, consumers, and NGOs.
- Implementation of a W2R business model based on circular economy approaches and industrial symbiosis schemes, as well as business opportunities for the sectors involved.
- Creation of a project website (www.water2return.eu) available in EN, ES, FR and DE.
- Social media presence: Twitter (983 followers, 1,478 tweets), LinkedIn (361 followers, 188 posts) and YouTube (38 subscribers, 37 videos).
- A W2R demonstration workshop was held at the headquarters of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Sustainable Development in Seville, followed by an institutional visit to the demonstration site.
- Design of two capacity-building programs for the slaughter industry and for livestock producers and consumers, respectively. A total of nine capacity-building workshops have been organized within these programs.
- Preparing a report for laypeople.
- Organization of a Final Conference for the project within the framework of the Forum for the Future of Agriculture, an open dialogue event for agriculture and the environment.
Water scarcity and resource recovery are global concerns. Solutions to optimize water use are essential in water-intensive industries, such as slaughterhouses, whose wastewater contains a high proportion of organic matter. This wastewater can be a valuable source of nutrients if properly recovered.
Based on the above, the Water2REturn (W2R) consortium views the environmental and economic constraints of the slaughterhouse industry as a market opportunity. To capitalize on this opportunity, W2R proposes a comprehensive solution for the treatment of slaughterhouse wastewater and the recovery of valuable nutrients with a high market value in the agricultural sector. W2R adopts a Circular Economy approach where the nutrients (and energy resources) present in wastewater are safely and efficiently recycled in different forms and reinjected into the agricultural system as new raw materials. Wastewater is therefore a source of nutrients, energy, and water, and ceases to be waste, and wastewater treatment plants become biorefineries.
The main objectives are:
- Development of a demonstrative application for the treatment of slaughterhouse wastewater and nutrient recovery on a large scale in a real-life case study, the “Matadero del Sur” (MdS) slaughterhouse in Salteras, Spain.
- Manufacture of organic fertilizers and biostimulants.
- Nutrient recovery and 90% reduction in wastewater discharged into the environment.
- 80% reduction in waste diverted to landfills.
- Energy self-sufficiency through the improvement and valorization of biogas, reducing CO2 and GHG emissions.
- Creating new business opportunities and green jobs.
- Promote and rapidly promote broad market adoption of W2R processes and products, while improving their acceptance through capacity building and awareness.
Water2REturn proposes a full-scale demonstration process for integrated nutrient recovery from slaughterhouse wastewater using biochemical and physical technologies, with a positive energy balance. The project will not only produce a nitrate and phosphate concentrate available for use as organic fertilizer in agriculture, but its novelty lies in the use of an innovative fermentation process designed for sludge valorization, resulting in hydrolyzed sludge (with multiplied biomethane potential) and biostimulant products, with low development costs and high added value in plant nutrition and agriculture.
This process is complemented by proven technologies such as biological aeration systems, membrane technologies, anaerobic processes for biomethane production, and algae technologies, all combined into an integrated, emission-free monitoring tool that will improve the quality of data on nutrient flows. The project will close the loop by demonstrating the benefits associated with nutrient recycling by implementing different business models for each end product. This will be carried out with a systemic and replicable approach that considers economic, governance, and social acceptance aspects throughout the water chain and essentially focuses on two market demands: 1) the demand for more efficient and sustainable production methods in the meat industry; and 2) the demand for new recycled products as a source of nutrients for agriculture.
In short, the Water2REturn project adopts a Circular Economy approach where the nutrients present in wastewater from the meat industry can be recycled and reinjected into the agricultural system as new raw materials. The project fosters synergies between the food and sustainable agriculture industries and proposes innovative business models for the resulting products that will open up new market opportunities for European industries and SMEs in two key economic sectors.
The current approach to industrial wastewater treatment relies on nutrient removal rather than recovery and recycling. W2R represents a true technological breakthrough, enabling the production of significant quantities of high-quality PA. W2R closes the gap in the EU-wide implementation of highly efficient combined technologies to produce valuable recycled PA, ready for international manufacturing and marketing.
Furthermore, to address the current gap in end-user knowledge and perception of new bio-recovered fertilizer products, W2R incorporates a social perspective by involving end-users (meat producers, farmers, landowners, consumer associations) in the early stages of the project.
The W2R project addresses the following impacts:
- Reduce dependence on imported primary nutrient resources and increase security of supply at EU level.
- Reduce the adverse effects of nutrient emissions on water bodies.
- Closing water and nutrient cycles throughout the production and consumption value chain. The modular nature of W2R's innovative technologies makes them adaptable and replicable for other industries (e.g., animal farms, tanneries, dairies, breweries, etc.).
- Improve the quality of data on nutrient fluxes, thus providing important information for investments in the recycling of recovered nutrients.
- Create new green jobs and industries around the recovery and recycling of nutrients from water, including the manufacturing and export of fertilizers.
- Creating new business opportunities for EU industry and SMEs and improving the competitiveness of EU companies.
- Provide evidence-based knowledge on enabling framework conditions (such as regulatory or policy framework) that facilitate the transition to a circular economy.
W2R's business results are:
- An integrated system for treating wastewater while recovering nutrients, customizable to the end user's needs.
- Three raw materials: concentrate
- BIOAZUL, SL
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