From June 14-15th 2023 the WaterProof consortium held its one year general assembly with all consortium partners. The meeting took place at the facilities of Tecnalia in the city of Bilbao, Spain, and gave all participants the opportunity to discuss future focus points and strategies, and streamline their research efforts. Following the presentation of current research data, various work packages were already able to celebrate first promising results.

There clearly is value in waste(water) CO₂. Still monitoring and evaluating the environmental, economical and social scope of CO₂ as a feedstock and related processing is challenging. One of the most common instruments in this context is the Life Cycle Assistent (LCA), which can be extended to to a social focus in the frame of a Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA). WaterProof includes a variety of partners from industry and science that offer very different levels of LCA knowledge. To get everyone on the same page, this free online webinar will provide a comprehensive introduction on the three pillars of LCA – sustainability, economics and social aspects, and you are kindly invited to join.

30 March 2023, 14:00-17:00 online, free

Agenda

14:00-14:10 Annelie Jongerius and Sophie van Vreeswijk (Avantium) – Introduction

14:10-15:00 Matthias Stratmann (nova-Institut) – Sustainability and Life Cycle Assessment – An introduction to key elements and methodology

15:00-15:40 Ema Nemet (Process Design Center) – Conceptual design of processes hand in hand with environmental LCA and techno-economic evaluation

15:40-16:20 Shraddha Mehta (Sintef Ocean) – Social LCA and Evaluation of Social Parameters

16:20 Discussion

Starting soon, the new research project WaterProof aims at closing the waste(water) carbon loop by creating a novel biorefinery concept converting CO₂ emissions from urban waste treatment facilities into valuable green consumer-products. The objective is a technology resulting in a GHG reduction based on CO₂ utilization, replacement of fossil feedstock and industrial electrification

In view of the increasing scarcity of fossil carbon feedstock and a parallel increase in carbon demand, science and industry are faced with the challenge of urgently closing any possible carbon loop. This also includes the conversion of CO₂ emissions from waste(water) processing. Many of the products we use in our everyday lives, like cleaning products, cosmetics and their packaging materials, end up in our waste and wastewater systems. Processing of these waste streams by means of incineration for the generation of energy and by water purification processes causes immense emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄). WaterProof aims at creating a novel technology for waste(water) treatment, combining effective CO₂ recycling and a contribution to a clean water cycle with zero-waste.

Formic acid for cleaning detergents and sustainable fish leather made from waste(water) CO₂ 

In order to develop an innovative process, the consortium has set high goals: WaterProof will demonstrate the possibility of creating competitive and profitable business opportunities by turning CO₂ into value-added products, such as consumer cleaning products. This will be achieved by chosing electrochemistry as the method of conversion, using electricity from renewable sources. Although technologies using CO₂ as a building block for the chemical industry are already available, WaterProof aims to progress beyond the state of the art. In this electrochemical process, two electrodes – oxidation and reduction – work together using the same energy source, hereby providing the opportunity to add a second reaction (oxidation) and producing formic acid. WaterProof aims at making the most use of the reduction reaction by testing the formic acid in formulations for new sustainable consumer cleaning products as well as the preparation of sustainable and fish leather, hereby replacing products made with fossil ingredients and reducing the CO₂ emission of wastewater-treatment to a minimum.

Twelve partners from six countries collaborate on creating a clean water cycle with zero-waste

The WaterProof project combines international expertise from all over the globe. Under the lead of Avantium Chemicals BV from the Netherlands, a research consortium including the Ecover Co-ordination Centre from Belgium, Centro de Ciencia y Tecnología de Antioquia from Colombia, Coatema Coating Machinery GmbH, Izes GmbH and nova-Institut für politische und ökologische Innovation GmbH from Germany, Nordic Fish Leather EHF from Iceland, Frames Renewable Energy Solutions BV, Stichting Waternet and NV HVC from the Netherlands, Fundacion Para El Desarrollo y la Innovation Texcnologica as well as Fundacion Tecnalia Research and Innovation from Spain will be working on innovative solutions.

The WaterProof Project receives funding from the Horizon Europe Framework Programme under the Grant Agreement Number 101058578.
More information about the project will soon be available at www.waterproof-project.eu

Read the full press release here.