Water2Return

In view of climate change, growing land scarcity and soil degradation, demand is rising for alternative and sustainable solutions for using and recovering water as a resource. The European food industry in particular, especially the slaughterhouse sector, has high water and energy consumption and produces large volumes of wastewater containing nutrients that are nonetheless disposed of unused, day after day. The Horizon 2020 project "Water2Return" investigates how this process can be reversed in the spirit of the circular economy, turning wastewater treatment plants into biorefineries for nutrients. The project has developed an innovative approach to wastewater treatment in slaughterhouses that recovers resources at the same time.