Water in the Circular Economy: Innovations for Urban Water Treatment

The FP7 project R3Water (Reuse, Recovery and Resource Efficiency: Innovations in Urban wastewater treatment) will be holding its final conference on 30 May 2017 in Brussels. The conference will provide participants with detailed information on the innovations for urban water treatment developed in the project.

The final R3Water project conference entitled ‘Water in the circular economy – innovations for urban water treatment’ will take place from 10:00 on 30 May 2017 at the Representation of the State of Hessen to the EU, 21 Rue Montoyer, 1000 Brussels.

As well as presentations related to the developments made during R3Water, several keynote speakers will give insights on the reuse of water, resource recovery and resource efficiency in urban waste water treatment.

The agenda for the meeting can be downloaded here and the registration form for the event can be found here.

More about R3Water

The R3Water project was funded under the European Commission’s FP7 programme and started in January 2014 for 42 months with a budget of EUR 7.8 million.

Wastewater treatment plants are usually regarded as facilities to avoid emissions from wastewater. Current research and development shows that these plants can be converted and upgraded into production units to provide energy, nutrients, water for re-use and possibly other valuable outputs. This is achieved by improved resource efficiency in the plant as well as through the use of new technologies and business models that allow the re-use of resources from the incoming water.

The main objective of the R3Water project is to demonstrate solutions that support this transition from a treatment plant for urban wastewater to a production unit for different valuable products.

The project consortium, coordinated by IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, brings together 12 technological partners from seven European countries.

More information about the R3Water project can be found on the project website and in its brochure.

Your Chance to Influence the EU Research Agenda for Formulated Products

The Horizon 2020 project AceForm4.0 has launched a public online consultation. The main aim of the consultation is to identify the common technological challenges faced by the European Formulation Industry and its associated actors along the whole value chain. 

These findings will serve as guidelines for the allocation of European public funding for research and development activities over the next 5-10 years. Don’t miss your chance to make sure that those areas that will effectively enable your organisation to increase its competitiveness and its innovation ability get the support they need!

The Horizon 2020 Coordination Action on Formulations (AceForm4.0) was put together in response to a call that was originally proposed by some of the SusChem NTPs in particular SusChem UK. The full project name is ‘Activating Value Chains for EU leadership in FORMulation Manufacturing 4.0’.

The survey

The AceForm4.0 consultation targets industrial and commercial organisations producing formulated products and formulations as well as all associated actors along the value chain and is divided into four sections and should take no more than 25 minutes to complete.

The first two sections of the survey are dedicated to identifying the profile of the survey participant and their technical challenges and opportunities. The third and fourth sections are exclusively dedicated to the identification of challenges and opportunities for the formulation industry in the context of two mega trends: the Circular Economy and Industry 4.0. 

The survey will be conducted during the first and second quarter of 2017. The findings will then be analysed and translated into a common vision for sustainable formulated products and an implementation plan for 2025. Further one-to-one interviews and workshops will be carried out as part of the process of preparing this common vision. 

The findings will be made available to the public on a continuous basis during 2017 and 2018 through the AceForm4.0 project website.

Participate now and help establish a Strategic Research Agenda and Implementation Plan for the formulated product industries!

More about AceForm4.0

The project aims to strengthen Europe’s leadership in the development and commercialisation of innovative sustainable formulated products by working with relevant stakeholders to establish a strategic roadmap, develop an associated implementation plan for 2025 and stimulate the creation of new collaborative value chains and partnerships in the context of the opportunities offered by industry 4.0 and the drive by Europe towards a circular economy.

The project will establish and evolve an EU Formulation Interest Group (EU-FIG) and facilitate the exchange of non-competitive know-how in formulation technologies between stakeholders operating in six key sectors that are dependent upon innovations in formulation technologies:

• Formulated products for institutional and consumer use (e.g. detergents)
• Pharmaceuticals and healthcare formulated products
• Agrochemical formulated products
• Formulated products for surface modification such as coatings and inks
• Formulated food ingredients and nutraceuticals
• Process modelling, simulation, plant automation and digital platforms (cross-cutting digital sector)

It will identify, analyse and validate common scientific and industrial cross-sectorial challenges facing these sectors in the coming decade that can reduce energy consumption; improve resource efficiency and recycling; improve process scalability; and reduce time-to-market. It will focus on the following domains:

• Formulation technologies for better delivery of active ingredients
• Modelling and high-throughput metrology to improve scale-up, process control and supply chain management
• Intensification methodologies for better process design using scalable and industrially relevant integrated digital platforms

AceForm4.0 will develop and validate a strategic roadmap and associated implementation plan and facilitate through knowledge exchange activities the development of new cross-sector value chain partnerships. Finally it will develop a robust business plan for the on-going facilitation of the EU Formulation Interest Group, to enable facilitation of the community beyond the completion of the project.

What are Formulated Products

A formulated product is composed of at least two ingredients which are selected, processed and combined in a specific way to obtain well-defined target properties, functionality and performance. The product can exist in liquid, semisolid or powder form. A formulated product has a commercial value and is either meant for direct consumer use or for downstream use in industrial applications.

Examples of formulated products range from laundry detergents to wall paint and ready-made sauces, dressings and spreads, inks and ice-cream to cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

Biobased Live: Innovation for Sustainable Products

From 31 May to 1 June the BioBased Live Europe event will be taking place at the Amsterdam Science Park. BioBased Live aims to take biobased innovations from laboratory to market through best practice sharing and making biobased products a key part of sustainable strategies.

BioBased Live and its organisers, BioBased World News, believe there has never been a more exciting time to work in the biobased industries - and SusChem agrees! Global production of biobased chemicals now exceeds 60 million tonnes with the global market for biobased chemicals expected to increase to at least $12.2 billion by 2021. We want to support this sustainable shift towards the circular economy and bio-based products.

What is BioBased Live Europe?
This second annual meeting offers an interactive and intimate environment to make biobased innovations a key part of future sustainable strategies. Bringing together CEOs, senior R&D,and Process Heads with the sustainability professionals, brand marketing specialists and end users, the event creates a unique platform to do business and create practical takeaways to ensure long-term sustainable success.

As an emerging industry the journey from lab innovation to commercialisation for biobased products can be a difficult one. It is a convoluted ecosystem and all actors are required to collaborate and work together to ensure a productive future for the bio-based industry. This is where Biobased Live comes in.

Focus of the event, in which SusChem will participate is on two themes:

• Process Innovation & Technology - developing biobased and green innovations that are cost-competitive at commercial scale.
• Sustainable Products - improving the triple bottom line for brands and retailers by placing biobased and green adoption at the heart of sustainability strategies.

You can find out more at the BioBased Live website, where you can look at the event's agenda, download a brochure for the event and, of course, register. SusChem stakeholders are being offered a 15% discount on registration fees using the code SUS15.

Date announced for 2017 SusChem Stakeholder Event!

SusChem is proud to announce that its 2017 Stakeholder event will take place on
Thursday, 8 June in Brussels.

Mark the date in your diary now! As usual attendance at the event will be free of charge for all SusChem stakeholder, but registration will be required.

More details will be published soon on the SusChem website. In the meantime if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the SusChem Secretariat.

RESYNTEX: A New Circular Economy Concept for Textiles and Chemicals

On 14 September 2016, the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) and the European Apparel and Textile Confederation (EURATEX) organised an Experts Workshop on Textile Waste Situation & Textile Waste-to-Chemicals Scenarios. The event, held in Brussels, brought together European textile waste and chemical industry experts to discuss the current situation and trends in textile waste collection and valorisation in Europe, and to validate textile waste-to-chemicals symbiosis scenarios developed by the RESYNTEX project. 

RESYNTEX, a research projected funded by the European Commission’s HORIZON 2020 Programme, aims to create a new circular economy concept for the textile and chemical industries. The project started work in June 2015. Through an innovative recycling approach and industrial symbiosis, RESYNTEX will transform textile waste into secondary raw materials, creating circularity and reducing environmental impact. The project objectives and current status were presented by the project coordinator SOEX Group. RESYNTEX has 20 project partners from across 10 different EU member states, including industrial associations, businesses, SMEs and research institutes.

During the workshop (above), the experts reported that, currently, many valuable materials contained in textile products are still disposed of as waste after use, and much of the waste is sent to landfill or incinerated with high environmental impact. Not enough post-consumer textile waste is separately collected in Europe and a significant residual part of the non-reusable waste does not get recycled. The purpose of RESYNTEX is to change that reality, designing a complete value chain from textile waste collection to new feedstock for chemicals and textiles. The project aims to enable traceability of waste using data aggregation, to develop innovative business models for the chemical and textile industries, to demonstrate a complete reprocessing line for basic textile components, as well as increasing public awareness of textile waste and boosting social involvement. Participants highlighted that citizens should receive more information in order to be involved in new ways of thinking and behaving towards textile waste, with a focus on sustainability.

Textile waste
An overview of the textile waste situation in Europe was provided by EURATEX and Oakdene Hollins. First, textile waste for the purposes of RESYNTEX was defined as “non-hazardous textile waste and is focused on residual waste currently sent for landfill or incineration, after all re-usable and easily recyclable fractions have been sorted out.” This material is accessible to the project from a range of different textile waste streams: production waste, post-use industrial/professional and post-consumer textile waste. According to the Eurostat waste generation data; there is approximately one million tonnes of textile waste collected separately from households in the 28 countries of the EU every year. However, collection rates vary extremely widely across Europe from rates of 30-50% in Western and Northern Europe to virtually 0% in some Eastern European countries.

A first estimate provided by Oakdene Hollins, based on an extrapolation of data provided by nine textile sorters in different EU countries, shows a total volume of 80 000 tonnes of residual waste generated by the EU-28 sorters per year.  Out from that volume and the composition of the residual material, which consists of 60% textile fibres, the total volume of textiles that is accessible to RESYNTEX from that waste stream is 50 000 tonnes per year. More detailed information on the composition of such waste will be evaluated during the project by the partners and contacts in regional textile sorters.

An overview of the French experience on textile waste and recycling was provided by Eco TLC, a not-for-profit private company directed by a board of industrial companies that aims to tend towards 100% reuse and recycling for used clothing, household linen and footwear (TLC in French).  Every company that introduces clothing, household linen, and footwear items on the French market to sell under their own brands, must either set up its own internal collection and recycling programme or pay a contribution to Eco TLC (accredited by the French Public Authorities to manage the sector’s waste) to provide it for them. The funds collected support research and development (R&D) projects that are selected by a scientific committee to find new outlets and solutions to recycle used TLC, and are used to publicise campaigns organised by local authorities to change consumers’ waste sorting habits. Every year, 600 000 tonnes of TLC are placed on the French market; however, only 32.5 % of used TLC is collected for reuse or recycling. TLC reported that up to 7% of the collected post-consumer textile quantity is currently incinerated, partly in cement production, or even sent to landfill.

The Netherlands has a goal of increasing the collection of post-consumer textiles by 50% by 2020.Today, the waste collection is about 90 000 tonnes per year. The low quality materials and non-reusable waste are the main challenge to waste textile usage. ECAP (LIFE) and REMO were mentioned by Alcon Advies/ Texperium as good examples of projects on textile recycling initiatives.  Belgium has an exceptionally high rate of separate textile waste collection due to a dense network of containers and other collection options across the country. The new report from COBEREC shows that, in 2015, 120 000 tonnes of old clothes were recycled in Belgium equivalent to 500 million pieces. Lower quality textiles are reused as rags (20%) or their fibres are recycled (17%). And about 8% of textile post-consumer waste is not reusable. An overview of Czech Republic textile waste scenario was provided by INOTEX Ltd: only 3 000 tonnes of textile waste is separately collected per year and only 3% of all textile waste seems to be recycled at present.

Recycling business
Cefic described existing polymer recycling business practices in other segments and summarised existing initiatives, pilots, commercial activities and other major research projects in the field of textile polymer recycling. For the RESYNTEX relevant types of fibres in the textile waste, Cefic discussed the relevant market environment. Potential business models suitable for such textile/chemical symbiosis were discussed by the workshop participants, for example scenarios describing regional delocalised sorting and pre-treatment of the textile waste and transportation to central chemical conversion plants to achieve economy-of-scale.

The RESYNTEX expert workshop provided an excellent platform to exchange valuable information between the participants, and challenge and validate Textile Waste-to-Chemicals Scenarios as Circular Economy concepts. The discussions and conclusions highlighted the enormous value such future symbiosis could create for both sustainability and the economic benefit of the sectors involved and society as a whole.

Solar-Driven Chemistry: A New Paradigm?

At present, despite advances in the production and diversity of biobased products and the increasing use of renewable energy sources, the chemical industry depends largely on fossil carbon resources for its main energy source and feedstock. A new White Paper launched by EuCheMS and DFG on 12 September at the 6th European Chemical Congress shows how it could be possible to drive chemical reactions using the energy of the sun and help guarantee a sustainable future.

This vision of solar-driven chemistry offers a long-term innovative scientific and technological endeavour to achieve sustainable chemical production through “recycling” carbon by converting CO2 into chemicals, materials and fuels.

Such #useCO2 approaches are also a medium to long-term research and innovation priority of SusChem and are featured in the SusChem Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA). SusChem inspired #useCO2 calls have been included in Horizon 2020 work programmes including those developed through the SPIRE PPP such as SPIRE calls 05-2016 and 08-2017.

The report was published in the same week as the 14th International Conference on Carbon Dioxide Utilization (CDU) was being held at the University of Sheffield in the UK. Today (15 September) on the final day of the conference Pierre Barthélemy, Executive Director, Research and Innovation at Cefic, will contribute to a CO2 Forum panel on 'Impacts, Policies And Strategies of CDU'. He will argue that beyond research and innovation challenges successful industrial deployment of #useCO2 technologies will require high levels of industrial symbiosis, significant investment and the right policy framework to deliver the desired impact.

Solar vision

The 'Solar-Driven Chemistry: A Vision for Sustainable Chemistry Production' paper describes how the primary feedstocks for solar-driven chemistry are water, nitrogen and carbon dioxide, while the main products would be molecular hydrogen and a series of carbon-based chemical compounds obtained through the simultaneous reduction of CO2.

Such solar-driven chemistry is a visionary concept, for which many scientific and technical problems remain to be solved. Technology transfer from fundamental chemical research to industrial applications can take decades, however, intermediate short- and medium-term objectives, which are necessary to enable the long-term goal, can also generate new knowledge, which will provide wider benefits to society and an improvement to industrial competitiveness, claims the paper.

Radical paradigm

The paper claims that solar-driven chemistry could be a radical paradigm shift in chemical production, which could have a high, positive impact on the competitiveness and sustainability of European industry. It has the potential to contribute significantly to a fossil-independent supply of feedstock for the chemical industry and to greener fuels for all applications. Solar-driven chemistry can create knowledge-driven competitiveness for Europe’s industrial production, while preserving jobs and the environment.

In order to accomplish this ambitious goal, a broad and inclusive action driven by the chemical science community is needed that requires a large integrated and synergistic approach covering catalysis, electrochemistry, photochemistry, nanosciences, in concert with semiconductor physics, engineering, biosciences and social sciences. Implementation of solar-driven chemistry is a big challenge, but one that could have a high impact for future generations, not only in science, industry and economy, but also within society as a whole, the paper concludes.

More information

The document is based on the presentations from a brainstorming workshop on ‘Solar-driven Chemistry’ that took place on 9 October 2015 in Berlin jointly organised by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and the European Association of Chemical and Molecular Sciences (EuCheMS).

DFG is the self-governing organisation for funding science and research in Germany whose membership includes German research universities, non-university research institutions, scientific associations and the Academies of Science and the Humanities.

EuCheMS aims to nurture a platform for scientific discussion and to provide a single, unbiased European voice on key policy issues in chemistry and related fields.

Horizon 2020: 2017 work programme announced!

This week (25 July) the European Commission unveiled its updated Horizon 2020 work programme for 2017. The packages announced by the Commission confirmed that in 2017 Horizon 2020 will support a range of SusChem relevant initiatives including Industry 2020 in the Circular Economy (€325 million) to develop strong and sustainable economies; Green Vehicles (€133 million); and Smart and Sustainable Cities (€115 million) to better integrate environmental, transport, energy and digital networks in the EU's urban environments.

Don’t forget you can find out more – and start building your project consortia for 2017 Horizon 2020 calls – at the SusChem Brokerage event on Tuesday 13 September in Seville.

In addition it was announced by Commissioner Moedas that for 2017 open research data will be introduced as the ‘norm’ for all new Horizon 2020 calls: projects funded under the programme will be required to offer free online access to all scientific data produced. The Commission believes that this move will boost competitiveness by accelerating innovation and collaboration, improving transparency, and avoiding duplication of efforts.

However, the Commission is aware that there are cases where research data cannot be open. Projects therefore have the possibility to opt out of the scheme, provided a valid justification is given such as protection of intellectual property.

A further new element in Horizon 2020 will be the use of Data Management Plans (DMPs), detailing what data the project will generate, whether and how it will be made accessible for verification and re-use, and how it will be curated and preserved. The use of a DMP is required for projects participating in the Open Research Data Pilot. Other projects are invited to submit a DMP if relevant for their planned research but only funded projects are required to submit a DMP.

See an infographic on how this will work in practice here, find out more on Open Research Data here and more on the proposals for Horizon 2020 Data Management here.

2017 key priorities

The Commission wants the 2017 Horizon 2020 work programme update to support competitiveness through open science. The calls and other actions under the current work programme updates have a budget of €8.5 billion. All the calls and related information are published on a single portal and build on the success of Horizon 2020 to date.

The Horizon 2020 Work Programme is directly aligned with the agenda of the Commission. It will contribute to the Jobs, Growth and Investment Package helping to strengthen Europe’s global competitiveness through innovation to create new and sustainable jobs and promote growth.

The 2017 announcement highlighted six priorities:

• A new Boost for Jobs, Growth and Investment - Research and innovation investments will cover both the immediate need to engage the re-industrialisation of Europe as well as the longer-term objective of building solid knowledge needed for the next wave of innovative breakthroughs. This includes around €1.45 billion of funding for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), including €438 million through a dedicated instrument which should benefit over 1 000 highly innovative SMEs.
• A Stronger Global Actor, Towards a New Policy on Migration, and an Area of Justice and Fundamental Rights Based on Mutual Trust – this demonstrates the flexibility of Horizon 2020 to address topical issues including an €11 million package of migration actions and €49 million to assist research on the Fight against crime and terrorism. 
• A Resilient Energy Union with a Forward-Looking Climate Change Policy – to ensure that Europe has secure, affordable and climate-friendly energy including initiatives to close the water cycle gap, by reconciling water supply and demand in both quantitative and qualitative terms with a budget of €10 million in the 'Greening the economy' call and research to support the future development of a production base for next generation Lithium battery cells or post-lithium battery cells under the Green Vehicles cPPP.  In total the 2017 energy calls dedicate more than €84 million for developing energy storage systems improving the flexibility of the energy grid to integrate an increasing share of renewables.
• A Deeper and Fairer Internal Market with a Strengthened Industrial Base – this priority includes a call on Industry 2020 in the Circular Economy (€225 million) which will contribute to boosting and renewing Europe's industrial capacities while ensuring sustainability and a call on personalised medicine (€332 million).
• A Connected Digital Single Market – to address existing barriers that access and providing innovative digital solutions including in electronics, computing, networking, robotics, photonics and cybersecurity.
• Cross-cutting and other features - supporting a range of cross-cutting initiatives in 2017 including Industry 2020 in the Circular Economy (€325 million) and Smart and Sustainable Cities (€115 million).

Research Integrity

The EU's Horizon 2020 research funding programme has now a more specific set of rules on research integrity to be followed by beneficiaries. The revamped model agreement provides more clarity on previously general requirements contained in Article 34 of the agreement. The article now explicitly calls for beneficiaries to respect the principles of honesty, reliability, objectivity, impartiality, open communication, duty of care, and fairness and responsibility for future science generations.

The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity has recently been revised in a process led by All European Academies (ALLEA), and once updated, in January 2017, the new code together with the revised Article 34 will constitute an effective mechanism to promote adherence to the highest standards of research integrity across Europe.

European Parliament Safeguards Horizon 2020 Funding

Meanwhile earlier this month the European Parliament adopted an own-initiative report that calls on the Commission and the European Council to support the report’s proposal to safeguard Europe’s research and innovation budget in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).

In its report, the European Parliament “regrets that the portion of the EU budget dedicated to research and innovation has often been the first to be affected by any cuts in the budget” and demands an increase to the ceiling of the competitiveness heading of the MFF in order to compensate for European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) related cuts.

More information

More details on the work programme update are available at here and on the Horizon 2020 website and Participant portal.

The SusChem Brokerage event will also outline SusChem relevant work package details and help participants to find project partners and start their Horizon 2020 journey! Register today! 

Gaseous Industrial Effluents and Industrial Symbiosis

The Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME) has launched an invitation to tender for the extension of the services of the European Sustainable Chemicals Support Service (ESCSS) to additional Model Demonstrator Regions. This phase 2 of the ESCSS will have a special emphasis on facilitating the recovery of Gaseous Industrial Effluents (GIEs) as non-fossil feedstock for sustainable chemicals production. 


This Phase 2 of the ESCSS follows up on Phase 1 launched in February 2016. This extension of the services of the ESCSS will focus on how recovery of GIEs as an alternative to fossil feedstock can be best exploited to produce sustainable chemical products.

The GIEs of interest for the extension are gases originating in combustion and exothermic process as effluent gas from energy intensive industries, such as steel or cement, and could include CO, CO2, NOX, SO2, H2 and others.

Phase 1 aimed to help regions establish and further develop sound strategies towards sustainable chemical production in Europe by taking advantage of domestically available feedstock, such as biomass, waste or CO2. The experiences from this initiative will be shared with other interested European regions to provide practical guidance on how to strengthen cross-sectorial cooperation between chemical industries and other industries and sectors, notably, agriculture, forestry, energy intensive industries, waste management and recycling, and can help many regions in Europe to move towards a circular and low-carbon economy by using renewable resources for chemicals production.

Six "Model Demonstrator Regions" were selected following the Call: Andalusia, Groningen-Drenthe, Kosice, Scotland, South and Eastern Ireland, and Wallonia.

Phase two
This Phase 2 aims to deepen the support services provided by the ESCSS. Special emphasis will be laid on the use of various GIEs as a potential feedstock for the manufacturing of sustainable chemicals in Europe for the following reasons:

• GIEs are the least developed alternative feedstock. Relatively little information exists about the economic potential of transforming GIEs into chemicals and about the impact on CO2 and other Green House Gases (GHGs) reductions
• The recovery of GIEs as an alternative feedstock for chemicals production requires new forms of cross-sectorial cooperation - industrial symbiosis - that are very different from the use of biomass or the recovery of waste. 

At policy level, there is relatively little awareness about the potential of GIEs recovery and how to support the new forms of cross-sectorial cooperation that is needed to better exploit it.

The use of GIEs is challenging because of the need for a deeper integration of different industrial activities leading to industrial symbiosis. Industrial symbiosis will facilitate investments, in particular in resource efficiency, circular economy and energy infrastructure.

Recovery of GIEs is also a challenge in terms of ecological and economic viability; there is therefore a need for deeper reflection on this issue, taking into account policy objectives, such as, strengthening Europe's industrial base, ensuring the security of feedstock supply and further implementation of European policies related to climate change.

Potential IPCEI
In addition the Commission is supporting the elaboration of a potential Important Project of Common European interest (IPCEI), which engages major players from several Member States and companies from various industry sectors to speed up the transformation of CO2 into value for a rejuvenated European economy and to gain global technology leadership in clean technologies.

This potential IPCEI will be designed as a transnational integrated project across public and private sectors that can propel Europe to global leadership in the transformation of CO2 into value-added products and services. The Commission has already hosted a workshop as well as informal meetings with Member States and industrial stakeholders involved in the elaboration of this IPCEI project. The results from this discussion are being used by the Commission to develop new ideas on how to further promote the concept of the circular economy in the specific field of GIEs.

The overall objective of ESCSS Phase 2 is to prepare a road map that aims at valorising the concept of recovery of GIEs in Europe as alternative to fossil feedstock to produce sustainable chemicals. This will also contribute to the industrial policy objective of modernising EU manufacturing industries and enabling industrial symbiosis in Europe, and further implementation of the Circular Economy Action Plan.

SPIRE Project Brochures Online

The Sustainable Process Industry through Resource and Energy Efficiency (SPIRE) PPP has just published two brochures cataloguing the research and innovation projects established under its calls in 2014 and 2015. The two brochures concisely outline the aims of each project and the concepts being used to implement it. A link to each project’s website is also included. 

The 2014 Project Brochure covers the following calls and associated projects:

SPIRE 1 – 2014 on ‘Integrated Process Control’

• RECOBA - Cross-sectorial real-time sensing, advanced control and optimisation of batch processes saving energy and raw materials 
• DISIRE - Integrated Process Control based on Distributed In-Situ Sensors into Raw Material and Energy Feedstock   
• PROPAT - Robust and affordable process control technologies for improving standards and optimising industrial operations 
• CONSENS - Integrated Control and Sensing for Sustainable Operation of Flexible Intensified Processes 
• ICSPEC - In-line Cascade laser spectrometer for process control 

SPIRE 2 – ‘2014 on Adaptable industrial processes allowing the use of renewables as flexible feedstock for chemical and energy applications’

• STEAMBIO - Flexible Superheated Steam Torrefaction and Grinding of Indigenous Biomass from Remote Rural Sources to Produce Stable Densified Feedstocks for Chemical and Energy Applications 
• MEFCO2 - Methanol fuel from CO2 - Synthesis of methanol from captured carbon dioxide using surplus electricity 
• MOBILE FLIP - Mobile and Flexible Industrial Processing of Biomass 

SPIRE 3 – 2014 on ‘Improved downstream processing of mixtures in process industries’

• PRODIAS - PROcessing Diluted Aqueous Systems 

SPIRE 4 – 2014 on ‘Methodologies, tools and indicators for cross-sectorial sustainability assessment of energy and resource efficient solutions in the process industry’

• STYLE - Sustainability Toolkit for easY Life-cycle Evaluation 
• SAMT - Sustainability assessment methods and tools to support decision-making in the process industries 
• MEASURE - Metrics for Sustainability Assessment in European Process Industries 

EE 18 – 2014 on ‘New technologies for utilisation of heat recovery in large industrial systems, considering the whole energy cycle from heat production to transformation, delivery and end use’

• TASIO - Waste Heat Recovery for Power Valorisation with Organic Rankine Cycle Technology in Energy Intensive Industries 

Waste 1 – 2014 on ‘Moving towards a circular economy through industrial symbiosis’

• RESLAG - Turning waste from steel industry into a valuable low cost feedstock for energy intensive industry 
• CABRISS - Implementation of a CirculAr economy Based on Recycled, reused and recovered Indium, Silicon and Silver materials for photovoltaic and other applications 
• FISSAC - Fostering industrial symbiosis for a sustainable resource intensive industry across the extended construction value chain
• BAMB - Buildings as Material Banks: Integrating Materials Passports with Reversible Building Design to Optimise Circular Industrial Value Chains 
• RESYNTEX - A new circular economy concept: from textile waste towards chemical and textile industries feedstock  

The 2015 Project Brochure covers the following calls and associated projects:

SPIRE 5 – 2015 on ‘New adaptable catalytic reactor methodologies for Process Intensification’ 

• ADREM - Adaptable Reactors for Resource- and Energy-Efficient Methane Valorisation 
• MEMERE - MEthane activation via integrated MEmbrane Reactors 
• PRINTCR3DIT - Process Intensification through Adaptable Catalytic Reactors made by 3D Printing 
• ROMEO - Reactor Optimisation by Membrane Enhanced Operation 
• TERRA - Tandem Electrocatalytic Reactor for Energy Resource Efficiency and Process Intensification 

SPIRE 6 – 2015 on ‘Energy and resource management systems for improved efficiency in the process industries’

• EPOS - Enhanced energy and resource Efficiency and Performance in process industry Operations via onsite and cross-sectorial Symbiosis 
• MAESTRI - Total resource and energy efficiency management system for process industries 
• SHAREBOX - Secure Management Platform for Shared Process Resources 
• SYMBIOPTIMA - Human-mimetic approach to the integrated monitoring, management and optimisation of a symbiotic cluster of smart production units 

SPIRE 7 – 2015 on ‘Recovery technologies for metals and other minerals’

• ADIR - Next generation urban mining - Automated disassembly, separation and recovery of valuable materials from electronic equipment 
• REE4EU - Integrated high temperature electrolysis and Ionic Liquid Extraction for a strong and independent European Rare Earth Elements Supply Chain 
• REMAGHIC - New Recovery Processes to produce Rare Earth -Magnesium Alloys of High Performance and Low Cost  

SPIRE 8 – 2015 on ‘Solids handling for intensified process technology’

• IBD - Intensified by Design® for the intensification of processes involving solids handling 

EE 18 – 2015 on ‘New technologies for utilisation of heat recovery in large industrial systems, considering the whole energy cycle from heat production to transformation, delivery and end use’

• INDUS3ES - Industrial Energy and Environment Efficiency 
• I-THERM - Industrial Thermal Energy Recovery Conversion and Management 
• SUSPIRE - Sustainable Production of Industrial Recovered Energy using energy dissipative and storage technologies  

About SPIRE
The Sustainable Process Industry through Resource and Energy Efficiency (SPIRE) is a contractual Public-Private Partnership (PPP) dedicated to innovation in resource and energy efficiency enabled by the process sector in Europe. The SPIRE Partnership is based on Article 19 of the EU Research and Innovation Framework Programme Horizon 2020 regulation and has been established through a contractual arrangement between the European Commission and A.SPIRE aisbl. SPIRE will be implemented through competitive calls included in the Horizon 2020 work programme. The objective of SPIRE is to develop the enabling technologies and value chain solutions required to reach long-term sustainability for Europe in terms of global competitiveness, ecology and employment.

For more information visit the SPIRE website.

SusChem 2016: Sustainable Chemistry – Innovation for Competitiveness

The 2016 SusChem Stakeholder event that took place in Brussels on 16 June once again showed that SusChem is a strong platform supporting a strong industrial sector. The platform acts as an effective bridge between the sustainable research and innovation needs of the chemical industry and European Commission policies. The debate demonstrated the excellent fit between the SusChem Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA), its technologies and priorities, including a sustainable bioeconomy, materials for energy management, processes and catalysis, ICT for processes, and water, and European Commission initiatives such as the Energy Union, Digitisation and the Circular Economy. Despite SusChem having no direct funding for R&I activities the influence of the technology platform is huge. At the event two new members of the SusChem community of national technology platforms were introduced: SusChem Austria and SusChem Greece.

With some 230 delegates registered from 18 European Member States the 2016 annual SusChem stakeholder event demonstrated once again the role of the platform in building a sustainable future for the European Chemical Industry. The video below give a quick overview of the whole event.




The event was also a big hit on social media with tweets using the hashtag #suschem2016 reaching over 25 700 users and with over 101 000 tweet views estimated. The three 'top tweets' from the day are republished below. 

In an opening presentation, strategic topics related to the SusChem programme were addressed by Rudolf Strohmeier (above right), former Deputy Director General of DG Research and Innovation, and a good friend and supporter of SusChem since its inception. He highlighted the recent Competitiveness Council of 26 May which for the first time had endorsed the “innovation principle” that the impact of regulation on innovation activities must be taken into account in all EU policy-making. This was a very important positive point for industry moving forward he believed. But he argued that in order to show European decision-makers and investors the value of innovation required sound business cases to be presented.

Implementing the new SIRA: Status and priorities

SusChem Chairman Dr Klaus Sommer (above left) reviewed the progress of the technology platform over the past year. He also noted that the sector had effectively decoupled energy intensity from production growth. He saw an excellent fit between the SusChem Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA), its technologies and priorities, and numerous European Commission initiatives such as the Energy Union, Digitisation and the Circular Economy. There were currently 70 open calls across various parts of the Horizon2020 programme that were relevant to the SusChem community. Despite SusChem having no direct funding for R&I activities the influence of the technology platform was massive.

In the coming year Dr Sommer looked to SusChem intensifying its input for future work programmes through thematic workshops and also linking through the Chem21 project into the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) for work on healthcare and well-being issues. In addition work on synergy between the BBI JU and SPIRE cPPP would be pursued, a project brokerage workshop was being organised in Seville on 13 September 2016 within the EuCheMS 6th European Chemistry Congress, and new lighthouse projects needed to be identified.

Priorities and platforms

Updates on the five main SusChem thematic priorities were given by the responsible Cefic Innovation Managers.

Work on the Sustainable Bioeconomy was described by SusChem secretary Flavio Benedito (above left) and Materials for Energy Management was presented by Anne Chloe Devic (above, middle left). Martin Winter (middle right) covered two priority areas: Processes and Catalysis, and ICT for Processes. The final topic presented was Water with Henk Pool (above right).

You can download the presentations made by Dr. Sommer and the Innovation Managers here. You can also download factsheets on the five SusChem Innovation priorities here.

Eric Firtion of SusChem France and the French Chemical Industries Union (UIC) introduced presentations on activities from a selection of SusChem's national technology platforms (NTPs). These included two new NTPs: Andreas Falk described SusChem Austria and Stelios Bikos outlined SusChem Greece’s ambitions (second and first right below respectively).

Other NTP presentations were made by Suzanne Coles (SusChem UK), Cristina Gonzalez (SusChem Spain), Eric Firtion (SusChem France), Alexis Bazanella (SusChem Germany), Tine Schaerlaekens (SusChem Belgium), Ladislav Novak (SusChem Czech Republic), and Nico Versloot (SusChem Netherlands) pictured from left to right above.

Panels debate Circular Economy, Energy Union

After lunch two panel debates took place involving European Commission and industry representatives. The first focused on SusChem and the Circular Economy and was moderated by Pierre Barthélemy, Executive Director of Research and Innovation at Cefic (pictured below, right). The circular economy could boost Europe’s global competitiveness, growth and jobs. SusChem had produced a position paper on the Circular economy calling for a sustainability based approach. Innovation is key to achieving a circular economy but this needed to be accompanied by a clear regulatory framework to ensure deployment stated Barthélemy.

The panel members were Reinhard Buescher, Head of Unit 'Chemicals' at DG GROW (middle right above); Waldemar Kuett, Head of Unit ‘BioBased Products and Processes’ at DG Research and Innovation; Gloria Gaupmann, Public & Regulatory Affairs Manager, Biotechnology and Renewables at Clariant; Reinier Grimbergen, Director Science to Innovate at DSM; Anton Valero, General Manager at Dow Chemical Ibérica (left above); and Greet van Eetvelde, Head of Energy & Innovation Policy at INEOS (middle left above).

The second panel discussion covered two topics – SusChem and the Energy Union and SusChem and Digitisation – and was moderated by Alexis Bazzanella, Head Research & Project Coordination at DECHEMA e.V. with panel members Eva Hoos, Policy Officer at DG Energy (middle above); Helene Chraye Head of Unit 'Advanced Materials and Nanotechnologies' at DG Research and Innovation; Khalil Rouhana, Director for 'Components & Systems' at DG CNECT (left above); Jens Rieger, Senior Vice President at BASF (right above); Henrike Gebhardt, Senior manager Scientific Relations at Evonik Industries AG; and Nicolas Cudré-Mauroux, Research & Innovation Group General Manager (CTO) at Solvay

From the two panel discussions on the ‘Circular Economy’ and on ‘Digitisation’ and the ‘Energy Union’ the role of the chemical industry as an amazing enabler for innovation was clear, but there was a need to ensure enhanced collaboration along and across value chains to maximise the impact of the sector’s innovations on the wider economy. Sustainable chemistry has a key role in maximising use of resources (including water) and energy both within our own sector and across other industrial and manufacturing sectors. 

Concepts such as industrial symbiosis, advanced digital technologies, and recyclable and renewable materials innovation pioneered by the chemical sector would be essential in enabling Industry 4.0, the circular economy and other sustainable development initiatives while maintaining competitiveness, jobs and growth in Europe.

Conclusions

Summing up the day Dr Klaus Sommer said that the clear link between competitiveness and innovation had been demonstrated, but he stressed the need for establishing sound business cases to ensure innovation can gain investment and move to implementation. Future SusChem priorities had been described and he called on all interested stakeholders to get involved with the relevant working groups. He concluded by stating that SusChem was still a strong platform supporting a strong sector and acting as a bridge between our research and innovation needs and European Commission policies.

Premiere for a New Raw Material: CO2

Today (17 June) Covestro has opened a new production plant in Dormagen, Germany that uses an innovative process that will help cut the use of fossil fuel based feedstock by partially replacing it with carbon dioxide (CO2). For the first time, Covestro is using CO2 to produce plastics on an industrial scale. The production plant for this innovative foam component made with 20% CO2 is at Covestro's Dormagen site near Cologne in Germany. The new process saves a proportional amount of the traditional oil-based raw material, thus making a contribution to sustainability that Covestro believes offers considerable potential. 

SusChem is also supporting research and innovation into the further utilisation of CO2 as a valuable feedstock for chemicals and fuels as part of a broad approach to enabling the circular economy and industrial symbiosis. The use of CO2 as a renewable feedstock features in SusChem's recent Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA) and was discussed at our Stakeholder meeting on 16 June. 

SusChem believes that the utilisation of CO2 as a feedstock by the European chemical industry could be a key solution to reducing use of fossil fuels, reducing the EU’s dependence on imports of fossil resources and improving the security of supply of carbon feedstock. Exploiting sustainable carbon resources, such biomass and CO2 will enable production of more sustainable chemicals and materials with lower net CO2 emissions. 

This shift will result in reduced utilisation of fossil resources, and take industry a step closer to a true circular economy.

“We have to change the way we look at CO2, and we will. Using it as an alternative source of raw materials is a solution to some of the biggest challenges of our time – finding a replacement for finite fossil resources such as oil and gas and closing material cycles. Thanks to our innovative process and the launch of our production operations in Dormagen, we see ourselves as a pioneer in this area – true to our vision ‘To make the world a brighter place’,” said Covestro CEO Patrick Thomas at the opening ceremony. 

Long-term perspective

“This method of using carbon dioxide as a raw material is an important step as we move toward a sustainable future. The German Federal government is promoting the use of CO2 as a raw material in order to expand the chemical industry’s raw materials basis and open new avenues to sustainability,” emphasised Thomas Rachel, Parliamentary State Secretary from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The German government supported Covestro’s technology financially in the research and development phase.

Professor Ernst Schmachtenberg, Rector of RWTH Aachen University, added: “Making efficient use of the carbon dioxide molecule, which is normally slow to react, is a real scientific and technical challenge. We have made a breakthrough by combining application-centric basic research with research-based industrial practices.”

Covestro scientists worked hand-in-hand with experts from the CAT Catalytic Center in Aachen – a research institute operated jointly with RWTH – to find the right catalyst that would make the chemical reaction with CO2 possible. A team under researcher Dr. Christoph Guertler (pictured left) discovered the right catalyst to enable the use of CO2 for plastics production.

For mattresses and upholstery

In Dormagen, Covestro is now using carbon from CO2 to manufacture a new type of polyol. These are core building blocks for polyurethane foam – a versatile material that is used in many industries around the world and that we encounter throughout our daily lives. The carbon dioxide is chemically bound into the material.

The company has invested some EUR 15 million in the new plant, which has an annual production capacity of 5 000 metric tons. The CO2 used is a waste product from a neighbouring chemical company - a great example of the sort of value chains that will be the basis of a future circular economy. 

The new CO2-based polyol has been engineered initially for flexible polyurethane foam intended for use in mattresses and upholstered furniture. In terms of quality, the foam achieves at least the same high standards as conventional material produced using only petrochemical raw materials. 

Environmentally friendly processes

By eliminating the use of crude oil and saving the energy otherwise used to process that oil, the method is more environmentally friendly than conventional production processes. Thanks to the catalyst and the considerable energy contained in the remaining content of petrochemical raw materials, no additional energy needs to be expended to make the low-reactivity CO2 react.

If the new CO2-based products are received as warmly as is hoped, Covestro can envisage significant production expansion. In addition to flexible foam, the company is also working on manufacturing many other plastics with carbon dioxide. Its vision is to one day largely dispense with crude oil in plastics production.

You can read more about the opening of the plant and the Covestro DREAM process here. 

Image credit: All images used in this article are (c) Covestro

Commission launches ‘Innovation Deals’

At the end of May the European Commission launched a new pilot scheme called the Innovation Deals. The scheme aims to help innovators with promising solutions to environmental issues to navigate regulatory challenges to bring their ideas to market. The initiative was introduced in the margins of the Competitiveness Council meeting that took place on 26 May 2016 by Frans Timmermans, the Commission's First Vice-President, and Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation.

On May 26 an open invitation was published by the Commission for expressions of interest from projects with strong potential to contribute to the EU's Circular Economy Action Plan. The selected projects will benefit from access to a close cooperation framework bringing together national, local and EU regulatory bodies to help navigate regulatory requirements. This pilot scheme is intended to support innovative ideas for maintaining the value of products, materials and resources in the (circular) economy.

What is an Innovation Deal?
Innovation Deals (IDs) will allow innovators to swiftly address legislative obstacles, shortening the time between their moment of inspiration and market uptake. Innovation Deals will take the form of a voluntary cooperation between the EU, innovators, and national, regional and local authorities. No funding for the preparation or implementation of IDs will be made available by the Commission.

The main aim of an Innovation Deal is to establish an in-depth understanding and clarification of how an EU rule or regulation applies. If a rule or regulation is confirmed as an obstacle to innovations that could bring wider societal benefits, the Deal will make the block visible and feed into possible further action.

The Innovation Deals platform will not jeopardise or compromise any environmental, social or competition principles, existing standards, or national legislation. The Deals aim to be an innovation in how the Commission works, helping to form a more modern and responsive administration in line with the Commission's Better Regulation Agenda.

Invitation to innovation
The call for Expressions of Interest (EOI) for the pilot phase of the ‘Innovation Deals for a Circular Economy’ opened on 26 May and will close on 15 September 2016. Up to five Expressions of Interest will be selected between October and December and will become Innovation Deals. Signature of the selected Innovation Deals is envisaged for the beginning of 2017 with an evaluation of the project being made in mid-2018.

In addition, up to ten Innovation Deals may originate through the Horizon 2020 Calls CIRC-01 (Systemic, eco-innovative approaches for the circular economy: large-scale demonstration projects) and CIRC-02 (Water in the context of the circular economy) that have been announced as part of the Work Programme 2016/2017 under the identifier ‘Industry 2020 in the Circular Economy’.

Applicants will be asked to outline their innovations and identify where they think EU regulatory frameworks are causing a block in getting their innovation to market.

The application to submit Expressions of Interest can be found here.

The chemical sector itself is also working with the Commission to identify regulatory barriers that are hindering the deployment of innovative technologies (both technologies developed by chemical companies or that could be implemented in the chemical sector). The scope of these regulatory issues includes those relevant to the Circular Economy and will to contribute to the sector’s discussions on Better Regulation with the European Commission in the future.

SusChem Stakeholder 2016: Materials focus

This year’s SusChem stakeholder event takes place on 16 June in Brussels. One of the areas for discussion at the stakeholder event will be Materials. In this blog Anne Chloe Devic (pictured below right), Cefic Innovation Manager responsible for this SusChem priority area, outlines the field, its many areas of innovation for sustainable chemistry and how you can participate in the discussion at #suschem16.

Materials is one of the five SusChem priority areas for innovation. There are at least two European Commission policy areas that relate closely to materials. One is ‘Closing the loop - An EU action plan for the Circular Economy’ and the second is the Energy Union with its Strategic Energy Technology (SET) plan. SusChem has defined its priority areas for research and innovation in materials as materials for energy efficiency, materials for low carbon electricity production, and materials for energy storage.

However, these three application areas remain very wide and SusChem wants to narrow down the priorities in order to maximise impact. Therefore SusChem is looking to engage its stakeholders to support and contribute to refining and defining the top priorities for sustainable chemistry in the materials domain.

In the next few month a SusChem working group, currently being formed, will discuss and propose the priorities that SusChem will put forward for inclusion in future calls of Horizon 2020 (and beyond) and other European and National collaborative research and innovation programmes.

Materials and Energy
The chemical industry is a key solution provider for many value chains and other industry sectors that are aligned with the priorities outlined in the fifth pillar (research and innovation) of the Energy Union.

Sustainable chemistry provides technologies and advanced materials for:

• Enabling the EU to be a world leader in renewable energy. This includes providing advanced materials 
• for sustainable production of renewable electricity, for example new composites for wind turbine blades and materials for photovoltaic technologies that include the recycling of these materials, 
• for energy storage, for example: electrical energy storage - materials for advanced batteries; chemical energy storage - advanced materials and process technologies such as H2 and CO2 based energy carriers via power-to-gas and power-to-liquid technologies; and thermal energy storage - phase change materials or reversible thermochemical reactions.
• Efficient energy conservation solutions to make the future and existing building stock energy neutral. This includes: advanced materials for thermal insulation, efficient lighting, and phase change materials amongst others.
• More sustainable transport systems through the use of lightweight materials as a solution to enable lower carbon transport. This includes innovation in ‘light-weighting’ technologies in terms of both materials and process technologies that can play a vital role to improve fuel efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions in transport. Composite materials, such as fibre reinforced plastics (FRP that can be carbon or glass reinforced) have a significant potential for weight reduction in vehicles. They can offer light weight benefits in comparison to other structural metallic materials, while maintaining high mechanical properties. In addition hybrid materials, combining composites and metals, with appropriate joining technologies, can reduce vehicle weight. Materials development for more fuel efficient tyres and advanced battery technologies are also important.

Materials and the Circular Economy 
The development of innovative advanced materials by the chemical sector is essential to enable a better use of existing resources along the whole life cycle of products and services, and to develop new production and recycling process paths.

The development of materials enabling ‘eco-design’ of products is required to address very demanding requirements in terms of performance in downstream applications, including better recyclability. New technological development of materials is often carried out by the chemical industry in collaboration with its value chain partners to provide improved / desired material characteristics and to enable more recyclable end-use products.

For this design and development process to be effective, sustainability assessment over the whole life cycle of the product needs to be considered. The evaluation of environmental impact should consider all environmental aspects including energy and water.

Stakeholder discussions
A highly interactive debate is expected at the Stakeholder event on 16 June and your questions and expectations on the outcomes for the panel debates, in particular on materials for energy, are welcome in advance.

Registration for the 2016 SusChem Stakeholder event is still open, but will be closing soon. This dedicated registration website includes all the information you will need to attend the event.

You are invited to submit your questions and comments and also your expectations for outcomes as part of the registration process. You can submit your questions and comments when you register and there will also be a link for question submission sent with the registration confirmation email.