Closing waste water cycles for nutrient recovery

WalNUT aims to develop the necessary concepts and technological solutions to re-design the value and supply chains of nutrients from waste water and brine, while staying in line with the objectives of the EIP on Agrifood and Raw Materials. A wide range of technological processes (physico-chemical, electro-chemical, biological) will be validated in labscale. 5 pilot plants for the nutrient recovery from waste water and brine will be tailored by combining multiple process units selected from the pool of technologies studied at lab scale and from partners previous relevant projects. The pilot plants will target not only high nutrient recovery efficiencies but also minimisation of environmental impacts. Thorough quality assessment of the resulting products shall be made in order to establish a concrete view of their market positioning. The multicriteria evaluation of pilot plants performance as well as the use of LCA, LCC, sLCA, will lead to the efficient validation of the technologies reaching TRL 4-6. Also, the project aims to create and disseminate a new paradigm shift from waste water and brine treatment to resource recovery which is essential for EU to sustain industries and societies for the long-term. Public and scientific awareness of the project will be raised and all relevant stakeholders will be informed about the possible pathways for waste water and brine valorisation. The project will be implemented by a consortium composed of partners with varied and complimentary experience, qualifications, skills and perspectives including research institutes, technology providers and industrial partners involved in waste water management. The involvement of representatives covering the whole supply chain of waste water, brine and nutrient recovery will provide an excellent opportunity to showcase the full potential of waste water and brine as a raw material for biofertilisers production.