How collaboration between industry and water sectors is driving effective water management solutions

“The European Commission’s Green Deal aims to promote a sustainable European economic future, with a focus on advancing the concept of a circular economy. Within this framework, the industrial sector is a significant consumer of water, second only to agriculture, and it produces valuable wastewater as a by-product.
This wastewater has the potential to recover various materials and energy. Through the application of advanced technologies, it can also be treated to produce high-quality water suitable for industrial reuse. The EU funded project ULTIMATE (grant agreement number 869318) establishes and promotes collaboration between the industrial and water sectors, creating a platform known as Water Smart Industrial Symbiosis.
At sites in Spain, the UK, the Netherlands, France, Denmark, Italy, Greece and Israel, ULTIMATE brings together the water sector with the agri-food, chemical, petrochemical, biotechnology and beverage industries. Twenty-four different pilot plants and three control and monitoring systems were developed, implemented, optimised and demonstrated to recycle water, materials and energy. In addition, six concept/feasibility studies were conducted.”

(Citation: Kleyböcker, A., Naves Arnaldos, A., Sgroi, M., et.al. – How collaboration between industry and water sectors is driving effective water management solutions – Wastewater (2024)86, p.30-37)