KWR in the news G.A. van den Berg - ULTIMATE industry water-utility symbiosis for a smarter water society

“A consortium of 26 partners, led by WRE member KWR, was recently awarded funding under Horizon 2020 for a project entitled “indUstry water-utiLiTy symbIosis for a sMarter wATer society” (ULTIMATE). The project aims to become a catalyst of a particular type of industrial symbiosis – henceforth termed “Water Smart Industrial Symbiosis” (WSIS) – in which water/wastewater plays a key role both as a reusable resource per se but also as a vector for energy and materials to be extracted, treated, stored and reused within a dynamic socio-economic and business oriented industrial ecosystem. Symbiosis promises benefits from lower costs as well as new types of revenues, exploiting ‘waste’ management not only as a legal obligation but as a new business opportunity. The EU has understood this potential but the transition is not easy and requires rethinking and redesign of workflows, processes and business models to create effective, efficient and profitable symbiotic models within industrial sectors and between industry and water service providers.”

(Citation: KWR in the news G.A. van den Berg – ULTIMATE industry water-utility symbiosis for a smarter water society – Water Reuse Europe Newsletter – www.water-reuse-europe.org (2020)23 March)