During the 4,5 years of the GREENER project the consortium has reached the following main achievements:
- In WP3 a total of thirteen polluted sites (12 in Europe, and 1 in China – among these 4 are the polluted soils sites, while 9 are of polluted water sites) have been sampled, characterized, and monitored. In three polluted soils, microbial consortia have been isolated and characterized. A synthetic community for pollutant degradation was developed and tested at pilot scale. Innovative microbial isolation methods have been developed for the isolation of the most optimal total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPHs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs) degrading consortia from contaminated soils.
- Within WP4, a total of seven individual technologies and three hybrid technologies for the removal of different pollutants in water have been developed. While within WP5, four individual technologies and two hybrid systems for the removal of various soil pollutants have been developed. The targeted pollutants were hydrocarbons, heavy metals, azo-dyes, antibiotics and pesticides. For all the technologies, information related to the pilot design, operational parameters, and scaled-up conditions were defined.
- For the technology scaling-up, a 5 steps decision-making diagram and technology evaluation methodology were used. Five technologies were demonstrated at field scale within WP6: (i) Improved Biopile in Spain for hydrocarbon removal, including biostimulation and bioaugmentation strategy using synthetic microbial community; (ii) Ecopile 2.0 in Ireland and China for hydrocarbon removal combining phytoremediation and microbial biostimulation/bioaugmentation; (iii) Bioelectrochemical systems for hydrocarbon degradation in Spain; (iv) Bioelectrochemical systems coupled with phytoremediation for removal of metal(liod)s in ground water and; (v) Biological in-situ metal precipitation in Belgium. Results have showed the scalability of the technologies as well as the efficiency for different pollutants removal.
- The work developed in WP7 demonstrated the techno-economic assessment of the technologies and the different sustainability aspects, including environmental, economic, and social - using Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment, Life Cycle Costing analysis, Life Cycle Assessment). The regulatory aspects were reported and ecotoxicity tests, using different in-vitro and in-vivo models, were performed to analyse the toxicity before and after remediation.
- Considering different results from the project, a methodology for selection of the most suitable remedial treatment or technology for a particular contaminant was developed. The proposed methodology involves three evaluation stages, starting with a larger number of technologies in the first stage and subsequently reducing to 2-3 technologies at the last stage (top-bottom approach). The three-stage working-frame proposed provides the remediation. Further, it helped the GREENER experts, by enabling a well-structured decision-making tool for appropriate selection of remedial approaches for the treatment of soil and/or water. This framwork also provided a solid foundation for discussion with stakeholders (e.g. site owner) and the regulatory authorities as indispensable components of the remedial project.
- GREENER project has successfully produced 13 Key Exploitable Results (KERs), each accompanied by well-defined exploitation routes and business strategies designed to advance the project’s goal of promoting eco-friendly solutions for contaminated sites. Additionally, a robust dissemination strategy, comprising various activities, has been established to support these efforts. One impactful strategy was the continuation of the GREENER Talks, a series of informative video presentations where project partners showcase their progress and elucidate how these developments contribute to the project's broader objective. In addition, the consortium has attended several dissemination events and released a total of 45 publications.
