Western Balkans are projected to be severely hit by climate change. In response to climate change, increasing resource scarcity, and environmental degradation, societies around the world are driving the transition towards the ‘circular economy’ that focuses on reducing material consumption, reusing materials, and recovering materials from waste. In the context of water resources management, water utilities are beginning to promote the circular water economy that reduces water consumption, reuses and recycles water and wastewater, and recovers materials, including heat and minerals, from water and wastewater to not only mitigate greenhouse gas emissions but also enhance resilience to climate change. By adopting circular economy principles in the processing of wastewater is that resource recovery and reuse could transform sanitation from a costly service to a self-sustaining and value-adding system. The Green Agenda for the Western Balkans, through its pillars, addresses the initiatives to support the region in developing circular economy strategies and fighting pollution of air, water and soil. It further states that WB region has only basic sanitary facilities and wastewater collection, while urban areas with collection of wastewater via sewer networks discharge mostly untreated wastewater. In Republic of Serbia, only 1.7% of wastewater per capita is treated. RS still has an engineering approach to wastewater treatment design versus river basin level one. Great investment are expected in this sector and knowledge-based solutions are necessary. Key goal of SmartWaterTwin project is establishing a methodological framework for potential applying of circular-economy principles into wastewater sector in Republic of Serbia. Joint action to harmonize Serbia's economic, environmental and social goals with EU goals will be also very useful in promoting broad acceptance of the circular economy concept in this sector. Furthermore, the end objective is to develop a unique platform for circular economy-wastewater treatment nexus to envelop most recent scientific reach in the field, expertise, data exchange and to prompt the joint research collaboration. Assessment of external and internal factors and what influencing these factors will be performed, to ensure pathways are clear towards transitioning towards circular economy in wastewater sector. In this way, the SmartWaterTwin will have long-lasting impact in promoting broad acceptance of the concept of the circular economy in this field. In addition, it will serve as “soft instrument” for creating the boundary conditions for circularity by influencing knowledge levels, collaboration and governance structures.
SmartWaterTwin met all objectives, delivered all 20 planned deliverables, and produced durable institutional, scientific, and methodological impacts without deviation. The project advanced Serbia’s scientific integration into European wastewater circularity domains and provided a model for CE knowledge transfer in non-EU environments.
