Water2REturn project: turning slaughterhouse wastewater into value-added biofertiliser and biostimulant products to be used in agriculture
The Water2REturn project is a circular economy approach to turn wastewater treatment facilities in slaughterhouses into „bio-refineries“.
The Water2Return consortium is launching several questionnaires to engage relevant stakeholders. The aim is to build a community of relevant people around Water2REturn Circular Economy approach with the purpose of facilitating discussion and fostering dialogue on cross-cutting challenges identified by the project.
THE PROJECT
Resource-oriented solutions for wastewater treatment based on a circular economy approach
Nowadays, water scarcity and resource recovery are global concerns. Therefore, there is rising demand for alternative and sustainable solutions to use water in the best possible way and to recover resources from going to waste. These solutions become a must when dealing with industrial sectors like slaughtering, a water-intensive industry that generates wastewater containing a high proportion of organic matter. This wastewater can be a valuable source of nutrients if properly recovered.
Furthermore, many products of current use are manufactured by using chemicals as a basis, when other options much more environmentally friendly are possible. Chemical fertilisers, for example, constitute a huge industry worldwide, although their extensive use represents a potential danger if they leach into water bodies, that can get polluted and suffer eutrophication, among other environmental problems.
So…why not making use of industrial symbiosis by turning wastewater treatment facilities in slaughterhouses into bio-refineries, following the Circular Economy principles? Addressing water scarcity while simultaneously recovering valuable resources is what Water2REturnsets out to achieve in a real case study: “Matadero del Sur”, a slaughterhouse in Salteras, Seville province, Andalusia region, Spain. Andalusia is a region well known for the challenges it faces in terms of water scarcity, what makes “Matadero del Sur” an ideal place to test the Water2REturn technology and an exemplar for other slaughterhouses all over Europe.
For further information and to join the project follow the link below.
Further Information
Project website