Sewage contains valuable substances that can be used as raw materials for biobased products. However, in North West Europe this potential is hardly exploited yet. This results in loss of valuable materials.
The Interreg North-West Europe project WOW! – Wider business Opportunities for raw materials from Waste water (sewage) – aims to make the transition to a more circular approach by matching supply and demand of cellulose, lipids and bioplastics (PHA) from sewage. NaturePlast is proud to be a part of this project.
At the end of May, the WOW! consortium came together for the project kick off meeting. Partners from the UK, France, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands gathered to meet each other and discuss about the content.
VALUABLE MATERIALS FROM SEWAGE
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.
During this project NaturePlast will focus on the state of the art on PHA and the market potential for PHA-bioplastics. NaturePlast will also lead R&D operations for the formulation and compounds production based on the PHAs produced by the WOW! pilot. Thanks to its expertise and dedicated equipments, NaturePlast will process and characterize the PHAs obtained from waste water.
NaturePlast is looking forward to a fruitful collaboration!
WOW! is supported by the Interreg North-West Europe program, www.nweurope.eu
The consortium consists of:
o Water authority Vallei en Veluwe (coordinator)
o Wupperverbandsgesellschaft für integrale Wasserwirtschaft
o Technische Universität Kaiserlautern
o Université du Luxembourg
o VLARIO
o NaturePlast
o Avans Hogeschool
o REMONDIS Aqua Industrie
o VITO
o Pulsed Heat
o CirTec
o Severn Trent Water
What is Interreg NWE?
A European Territorial Cooperation program with the ambition to make the North-West Europe area a key economic player and an attractive place to work and live, with high levels of innovation, sustainability and cohesion.
Contact:
Wendy van Rijsbergen
Communication WOW!
w.vanrijsbergen@avans.nl
About us: NaturePlast is a french company based in Normandy (IFS-14), specialized in bioplastics. With more than 10 years of experience in this field, the company has the most extensive portfolio of raw materials and biobased and/or biodegradable compounds in Europe. With its daughter company BiopolyNov, they provide support to industrialists from the origin to the industrialisation of their innovative project. Thanks to their R&D expertise acquired during the years, NaturePlast and BiopolyNov are renowned major player in the development and production of formulations for clients and collaborative projects.