Circular economy and sustainability
INDUSTRIAL-URBAN SYMBIOSIS AND ITS SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ON DIFFERENT EUROPEAN REGIONS
SYMSITES
Motivation
Population growth and urbanization are significantly increasing municipal wastewater and household solid waste. To address resource shortages, waste treatment should shift from management to recovery, viewing waste as a valuable resource through recycling and energy retrieval. Innovative solutions like Industrial-Urban Symbiosis (I-US) enhance resource efficiency through collaboration. Industries share materials, energy, and resources, while I-US expands this cooperation to include municipalities and urban stakeholders. SYMSITES aims to develop technologies and engagement strategies to implement I-US in four diverse European regions: Denmark, Austria, Spain, and Greece.
Objectives
The main objectives and technologies to be developed are:
- To develop an advanced co-treatment system of wastewater and biowaste based on anaerobic bioreactor (AnMBR) integrating new advanced membranes and a tertiary treatment by adsorption column.
- To develop a pyrolysis system for the treatment of solid non-recyclable wastes to obtain different platform molecules and chars.
- To develop the IT Regional Management Platform (ITRMP) to foster and manage the implementation of I-U symbiosis activities at the regional level.
- To demonstrate and validate the technologies and the 4 I-U symbiosis-based EcoSites.
- Social innovation actions based on research settings to maximize the outcome and further drive the I-U symbiosis replication in Europe.
- Assess the environmental, economic, and social impacts (including Societal Readiness Level-SRL) using Life cycle assessment and life cycle cost analysis as per (e.g., ISO 14000).
Obtained results
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R1. An optimized method to prove the feasibility of the co-treatment of wastewater, solid biowastes to obtain clean water and energy (CH4 and H2).
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R2. More efficient AnMBR due to the antifouling membranes treatment.
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R3. An Adsorption Column composed of active carbon functionalized with LigNPs and/or CDs to remove emerging pollutants.
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R4. A new pyrolysis method that allows the treatment of complex wastes using non-condensable gaseous as an energy source.
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R5. A prototype of a platform integrating ITRMP and SDSS modules.
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R6. Successful demonstration of the 4 EcoSites;
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R7 I-US impact from the socio-economic point of the different EcoSites.
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R8. I-US replication guidance;
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R9. Go-SYM spin-off;
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R10. Network of waste associations;
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R11. Virtual I-US Game
Grant number: 101058426
Programme: Horizon Europe
Period of execution: June 2022 – May 2026
Status: Finished
Entity: European Commission
Web: symsites.eu
Funded by the European Union under GA number 101058426—SYMSITES project.
Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the European Commission can be held responsible for them.
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R&D AREAS
New high-performance functionalised materials
Circular economy and sustainability
Advanced manufacturing, smart textiles and digitalisation
High value-added solutions for strategic markets
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AITEX is present at the Babykid FIMI fair at Feria Valencia from January 26 to 28, presenting tests and certifications for children’s products.
AITEX has attended the Cosmetorium fair in Barcelona once again on October to present its new products for the cosmetic sector.
AITEX has hosted the LIFE POLITEX workshop entitled “Closing the textile polyester cycle: challenges and opportunities”, based on promoting sustainable solutions for the management and recycling of textile materials.