Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English en
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

Regenerative Water Treatment Technologies (WTT) for Acid Drainage and Critical Raw Materials recovery in mining sites and natural environments

Objective

Water acidification has been identified by the UN as one of the most urgent environmental challenges that society will face in the coming decades. Its scale and growing trend are alarming and more than 75% of mining districts worldwide are already affected. Beyond mine sites, natural acid drainage is increasingly emerging in high-altitude and polar regions, where it threatens low-resilient ecosystems and exposes vulnerable communities to persistent environmental degradation. In parallel, the growing demand for Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) —essential for the green and digital transitions— has revealed the European Union’s dependence on external suppliers, creating economic and strategic risks. Efforts to secure domestic sources may inadvertently intensify the environmental impacts of mining, unless new, sustainable approaches are adopted.

ReWATT addresses this dual challenge not as an environmental liability, but as an opportunity for technological innovation. The project aims to develop and demonstrate a modular, circular, sustainable and transportable water treatment platform capable of remediating mining-impacted environments even in remote sites, while recovering valuable CRMs and reclaiming clean water. This will be achieved through international-intersectoral staff exchanges, from academia, industry, and public agencies across Europe and Latin America. The consortium unites universities (UAB, UNIBZ, UNAL, UMo), national research institutes (IGME-CSIC, INAIGEM, IAA), and industrial partners, combining expertise in geosciences, environmental engineering, chemistry, and biotechnology. Through structured, reciprocal mobility of up to 27 people and shared research infrastructures, ReWATT will build long-term collaboration, enhance technical capacity, and promote innovation in real-world contexts. Thus, it will contribute to a global network advancing sustainable resource recovery, aligned with the EU Green Deal, the Circular Economy Action Plan, and the UN SDGs.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-SE - HORIZON TMA MSCA Staff Exchanges

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-SE-01

See all projects funded under this call

Coordinator

UNIVERSITAT AUTONOMA DE BARCELONA
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 325 650,00
Address
EDIF A CAMPUS DE LA UAB BELLATERRA CERDANYOLA V
08193 Cerdanyola Del Valles
Spain

See on map

Region
Este Cataluña Barcelona
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

No data

Participants (5)

Partners (4)

My booklet 0 0