During RP1, significant advances were made in technology development and validation. Various innovative technologies, including advanced membranes, electrochemical processes, selective adsorption, hybrid biological systems, advanced oxidation, and energy recovery, were successfully tested at laboratory scale with synthetic wastewater from the 3 energy intensive process industries (pulp & paper, chemical, steel), and in some cases with already using real industrial wastewater. These technologies demonstrated promising results in water recovery, energy efficiency, solute separation, and pollutant degradation. Key developments included the use of nanostructured and biomimetic membranes with significant performance improvement and energy consumption reduction, functionalised electrodes, MOF-based materials, and biochar adsorbents. Hybrid anaerobic membrane bioreactors and energy recovery systems also showed early proofs of improvement compared to the state of the art.
Until now, the project also established modelling and optimisation frameworks using detailed physical and data-driven models for the studied industrial processes. These models support scenario analysis and optimise energy, chemical, and material use, feeding into a Decision Support Tool and initial risk assessments.
Innovative monitoring tools started to be developed, including both hardware and software-based water quality sensors. These tools, along with AI-enhanced spectroscopy models, support better monitoring and plant operation.
Environmental and economic assessments were initiated through life cycle and cost analyses, comparing RESURGENCE technologies with conventional practices. These assessments highlighted key environmental and economic impacts at lab scale to support the future optimisation and safe-by-design strategies for the scale-up towards pilot stage.
The project began evaluating circularity and potential synergies across industrial sites, identifying reuse opportunities and laying foundations for industrial symbiosis. Tailored circularity metrics were applied in two of the partner sites.
An exploitation strategy was drafted, identifying 21 Key Exploitable Results and 11 stakeholder groups. A register was created to track innovation and risk, integrating circularity and synergies into the exploitation roadmap in alignment with EU policy goals.
Finally, dissemination and stakeholder engagement efforts achieved high visibility, with strong online presence and over 11,600 stakeholders reached via events and communications.
