Periodic Reporting for period 2 - WalNUT (Closing waste water cycles for nutrient recovery)
Período documentado: 2023-03-01 hasta 2024-08-31
With global population projections reaching 8.6 billion by 2030 and 9.8 billion by 2050, the food industry faces enormous pressure to increase production. This surge demands intensified agricultural practices, resulting in increased land, water, energy, and fertiliser use. The current reliance on non-renewable mineral fertilisers presents several issues, including nutrient inefficiencies leading to environmental degradation, high emissions contributing to global warming, and heavy dependency on imported raw materials, so European soils face nutrient imbalances due to these practices.
Wastewater (WW) presents a promising solution for nutrient recovery (NR) to produce bio-based fertilisers (BBFs), offering a sustainable model to address mineral reserve limitations and environmental concerns.
Conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are energy-intensive and follow a linear approach; thus, a shift towards a circular model is urgent.
The WalNUT project aims to develop and test five innovative technological solutions for efficient NR from various WW streams, ensuring BBFs' public and regulatory acceptance and market integration.
Its main objectives include detailed nutrient analysis, sustainable NR technology development, environmental and socio-economic impact assessment, agronomic efficiency evaluation, and establishing governance policies and citizen engagement to support a circular economy in the EU agricultural sector.
Wastewater (WW) presents a promising solution for nutrient recovery (NR) to produce bio-based fertilisers (BBFs), offering a sustainable model to address mineral reserve limitations and environmental concerns.
Conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are energy-intensive and follow a linear approach; thus, a shift towards a circular model is urgent.
The WalNUT project aims to develop and test five innovative technological solutions for efficient NR from various WW streams, ensuring BBFs' public and regulatory acceptance and market integration.
Its main objectives include detailed nutrient analysis, sustainable NR technology development, environmental and socio-economic impact assessment, agronomic efficiency evaluation, and establishing governance policies and citizen engagement to support a circular economy in the EU agricultural sector.
Since the inception of the WalNUT project, significant progress has been made at several stages, mainly in mapping nutrient recovery (NR) from wastewater (WW), testing recovery technologies and participating in pilot activities to validate these solutions. Initially, a comprehensive analysis was carried out to understand nutrient flows in the main European regions, creating a detailed picture of the potential for nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) recovery from WW effluents. This mapping effort provided essential baseline data to assess how WW effluents could compensate for inorganic fertilisers, promoting circular nutrient ecosystems and supporting regional nutrient balance. In addition, a meeting point has been developed between all the main actors in the management and treatment of WW and the production of bio-based fertilisers (BBF), thanks to the implementation of the WalNUT Nutrient Platform (WNP).
In the first project period, 15 WW N and P recovery technologies were identified, tested in laboratory settings and selected for further trials based on key performance indicators, including recovery potential and BBF productivity. Using the WalLAB decision-making tool, the most effective technologies were selected, leading to the design and installation of five pilot plants at municipal, industrial and desalination facilities. . These pilot plants are since then validating the selected technologies under relevant conditions, providing insights into the operational efficiencies and potential environmental impacts of the solutions.
Furthermore, performance tests of the BBFs are being carried out under controlled conditions, and the evaluation of their behaviour in field tests has been initiated.
On the other hand, the development of business models and market exploitation strategies have been carried out, aligned with the project's impact objectives, with a focus on creating viable commercial pathways for BBF production technologies. This includes identifying key stakeholders and building frameworks to support the sustainable scale-up of sustainable technologies, thus enabling the integration of nutrient recovery solutions within a circular bioeconomy.
Finally, Substantial progress has also been made in policy participation and dissemination. Moreover, work has started on the drafting of a white paper to guide legal and policy aspects. public awareness has been strengthened through the project's online platforms, press releases and specific events, as well as clustering activities with sister projects. These activities, managed by the consortium, aim to bridge knowledge gaps, raise awareness of the benefits of bio-based biotechnologies and foster collaboration between industry stakeholders, policy makers and the public.
In the first project period, 15 WW N and P recovery technologies were identified, tested in laboratory settings and selected for further trials based on key performance indicators, including recovery potential and BBF productivity. Using the WalLAB decision-making tool, the most effective technologies were selected, leading to the design and installation of five pilot plants at municipal, industrial and desalination facilities. . These pilot plants are since then validating the selected technologies under relevant conditions, providing insights into the operational efficiencies and potential environmental impacts of the solutions.
Furthermore, performance tests of the BBFs are being carried out under controlled conditions, and the evaluation of their behaviour in field tests has been initiated.
On the other hand, the development of business models and market exploitation strategies have been carried out, aligned with the project's impact objectives, with a focus on creating viable commercial pathways for BBF production technologies. This includes identifying key stakeholders and building frameworks to support the sustainable scale-up of sustainable technologies, thus enabling the integration of nutrient recovery solutions within a circular bioeconomy.
Finally, Substantial progress has also been made in policy participation and dissemination. Moreover, work has started on the drafting of a white paper to guide legal and policy aspects. public awareness has been strengthened through the project's online platforms, press releases and specific events, as well as clustering activities with sister projects. These activities, managed by the consortium, aim to bridge knowledge gaps, raise awareness of the benefits of bio-based biotechnologies and foster collaboration between industry stakeholders, policy makers and the public.
NR is considered one of the most promising disciplines to transform the agricultural and food industry from a linear economy to a circular and sustainable economy. WalNUT's developments allow for innovative technological solutions for NR from WW at laboratory scale, which will be further optimised at pilot scale.
Current technologies present in WWTPs carry out WW treatment with high economic and energy costs and usually remove nutrients without recovering or valorising them. WalNUT's advances will close this gap by developing NR technologies and validating the BBFs obtained at a relevant scale.
The project will generate knowledge on NR that will be transferred to all sectors of the agricultural and food industry value chain. This will also include a sustainability factor in the production of BBFs, as well as the definition of business models and the promotion of policies that result in the marketing of these bioproducts.
Improved WW treatment systems will make it possible to obtain sustainable BBFs with high agronomic potential, which could replace the non-renewable mineral fertilisers currently on the market. Large-scale adaptation of WalNUT developments will have a positive impact on society and the economy, especially in rural and agricultural areas.
Current technologies present in WWTPs carry out WW treatment with high economic and energy costs and usually remove nutrients without recovering or valorising them. WalNUT's advances will close this gap by developing NR technologies and validating the BBFs obtained at a relevant scale.
The project will generate knowledge on NR that will be transferred to all sectors of the agricultural and food industry value chain. This will also include a sustainability factor in the production of BBFs, as well as the definition of business models and the promotion of policies that result in the marketing of these bioproducts.
Improved WW treatment systems will make it possible to obtain sustainable BBFs with high agronomic potential, which could replace the non-renewable mineral fertilisers currently on the market. Large-scale adaptation of WalNUT developments will have a positive impact on society and the economy, especially in rural and agricultural areas.