The CORNERSTONE project, funded under the Horizon Europe program (Grant Agreement No. 101138504), addresses the critical need for sustainable industrial water management. With increasing industrial activities and climate change impacts, efficient water use and recycling have become paramount. The project aims to develop innovative solutions to enhance water efficiency and reduce environmental footprints in industrial processes.
Objectives:
1. Test, advance, and optimize novel water treatment modules on a laboratory scale and design CORNERSTONE systems in combination with existing industrial processes.
2. Test, advance, and optimize smart monitoring tools for the digitalization and intensification of industrial processes.
3. Integrate and validate CORNERSTONE system configurations at three demonstration sites (steel, P&P, and chemical industries).
4. Quantify the sustainability of CORNERSTONE's solutions in environmental, economic, and social dimensions.
5. Develop decision support tools for digitally enabled industrial water, energy and resources stewardship
pathway to impact:
CORNERSTONE will contribute to the destination long-term expected impacts “Climate neutral, Circular and Digitised Production” through a pathway clearly linking the Projects’ Results (R) to the Projects’ Outcomes (PO), and ultimately unleashing Project’s Impacts (PI) contributing to the destination’s Expected Impact (EI).
CORNERSTONE results will enable the achievement of POs matching with all the five topic’s EOs set out in the topic: i) during the project implementation, thanks to the direct use of project’s results in the three demonstration sites. ii) and directly and indirectly shortly after the project completion, thanks to a solid dissemination and
knowledge transfer activity aiming at reaching TRL6 and launching other demonstration sites. The contribution to the Destination’s EI will take the form of the following PIs, combining green and digital technologies:
• Introducing world-leading innovative solutions into the production and manufacturing processes, on a largescale, as regards the circularity of industrial wastewater, recycling of the water, improved valorisation of components in the wastewater, and reduction in the use of freshwater (Technological and Environmental impacts).
• Improving the digitisation of the new technologies pertaining to wastewater treatment (Technological impact).
• Improving, and remodelling the underpinning business models of major emitting industrial sectors affected by low performances concerning the treatment of wastewater, including recovery of components (Economic impact).
