PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The European Commission has established an ambitious agenda to transition the EU towards a circular economy. To achieve this, actions must cover entire production cycles. Regarding biomass, there is a need to improve the integration of production and processing. One of the main challenges is to develop new value chains for bio-based industrial by-products.
Shortly before the start of the project it was discovered that granular sludge produced during wastewater treatment contains a relatively high percentage of valuable components such as alginate-like exopolysaccharides. These are comparable to the alginates traditionally derived from seaweeds. Alginates could replace many fossil fuel-based chemicals used to manufacture paper, textiles and concrete, as well as in agriculture. However, at present worldwide production of high-quality alginate is limited to some 33 000 tonnes/year. Greater availability of alginate made from granular sludge is necessary for widespread substitution for chemicals derived from fossil fuels.
OBJECTIVES
Waste2Kaumera aimed to demonstrate an innovative and highly replicable technology for turning wastewater solids (granular sludge) into a valuable material that was to be commercialised under the registered trad mark, Kaumera. This way it aimed to develop and demonstrate a production process for bio-based products from wastewater.
To do this, it used a double mechanical-chemical process of extraction, followed by a valorisation step. The technology was to be implemented at industrial settings at two waste-water treatment plants treating different types of waste-water. This was expected to generate new market opportunities and reduced the environmental impacts of wastewater treatment in terms of sludge production, transportation and energy consumption.
By turning a waste product into a secondary raw material, the project directly contributed to the EU Circular Economy Action Plan. The project objectives were also in line with the Sewage Sludge Directive and the Urban Waste Water Directive, which encourage the use of sludge as long as it is not a threat to the environment or human health.
RESULTS
The project demonstrated an innovative and appealing bio-based value chain, that produces high value Kaumera from granular sludge produced in wastewater treatment that uses Nereda treatment technology. The project has used representative industrial scale settings at two wastewater treatment plants in Zutphen and EPE (the Netherlands) using feedstock from 2 different sources (municipal and industrial (food processing) wastewater). At these two locations two Kaumera production units were implemented with the total production capacity around 605 tonnes/year of Kaumera from granular sludge. By implementing and operating the Kaumera extraction and validation facilities and by implementing the End of Waste and Reach requirements the project is a good example of the transition towards a biobased economy.
Kaumera extraction and validation contributes towards the objective of Dutch waterboards becoming fully circular by 2050. Some of the key environmental benefits of the demonstrated technology are substantial reduction of granular sludge (close to 1/3 reduction), as well as reduced energy and carbon footprint. However, the energy and carbon reduction results depend on the energy source, the choice of process inputs and on how much Kaumera is actually needed to replace 1 kg of product that Kaumera substitutes.
Though the partners are facing several challenges to enter the market with the Kaumera products, the project has high replication potential. The partners realised that they have not yet achieved a positive business case. However, a viable business case for various value chains is possible. Additional effort needs to be made to develop customer confidence and trust. As part of After-Life activities the partners will form a cooperative of 6 Dutch water boards where Kaumera will be produced, and a new company Start Up BV will be established with the participation of the cooperative of the 6 water boards and RoyalHaskoning DHV for the business development. Final decisions are expected end of 2023 or early 2024. The partners will continue working on development and validation of new Kaumera products together with prospective clients.
