What is the value of Industrial Water?

At the end of November SusChem and the European Water Technology Platform (WssTP) joined forces to present ‘The Value of Industry Water’ at Dechema’s Industrial Water 2018 conference in Frankfurt. The conference was attended by around 150 participants, mostly from Europe but with international representations from China, India, South America and the US, all active and interested in Industry Water Innovation. The conference was supported by SusChem, WssTP and SPIRE.

Water is essential for life. As the world’s population grows and the effects of climate change become apparent the demand for water will increase. And too many people around the world still do not have access to clean water or adequate sanitation. The Industrial Water 2018 conference on 27-29 November sought to highlight today's challenges in industrial water management and discuss the new strategies, developments and technologies that can make industrial water use more efficient.

The Industrial Water conference and exhibition is a biennial platform that addresses all relevant topics along the industrial water value chains: from raw water to waste water treatment; from sensors to digitisation in industrial water management; from alternative water resources to zero liquid discharge and integrated management.

The contribution from SusChem and WssTP was presented by Henk Pool from Cefic during the Digitalisation in Industrial Water Management session of the conference on the morning of 28 November.

Multiple waters
The paper, jointly authored with Durk Krol and Andrea Rubini from WssTP, was entitled ‘The Value of Industry Water: Integrated multiple waters, Digitally Connected and Smartly Managed’ and focused on the new ‘Multiple Waters’ Governance model and how Digital Waters enable a totally different, bottom-up and multi-stakeholder approach.

The basis for the paper stems from joint workshops organised by SusChem and WssTP to identify critical innovations in the context of an Industry Water transition from Single Use to Integrated Management.

The concept of Multiple Waters entails the employment of different water sources and qualities (such as fresh ground and surface water, rainwater, brackish water, saline water, brines, grey water, black water, recycled water) for various purposes by multiple users. The Multiple Waters concept targets the right water for the right purpose to the right users in a synergetic combination of centralised and decentralised water treatment. Water use can then be optimised based on the circularity principle for water such as cascading, reuse or recycling, while enacting new economic mechanisms and models based on the true value of water.

Value drives innovation
Considering Industrial Water management and the true Value of Water leads to the identification of industry innovation needs, which are driven by four factors:

1. Sensor Networks: Sensor development provides a unique opportunity for enhancing the Value of Water. Advanced sensor development is required to ensure continuous understanding and control of water quality. Handling of dynamic water systems requires advanced sensors. Full implementation, reliable operation costs and maintenance are important considerations.

2. Big Data: Identifying the Value of Water system in terms of the data that it generates and creates is central to its economic value. The creation of a resilient basis for cyber security and privacy legislation is necessary, as no holistic overview currently exists in the sector. Links between data silos and pockets of data should be established and prioritised.

3. Modelling and Analysis: Many models for enhancing water management exist in academia or within other research organisations. However, these methodologies need to be brought into context before moving to the next (pilot) phase. It is necessary to identify models and tailor them to the requirements of users in order to develop more efficient water systems while observing the interactions and implications.

4. Smart Governance: Smart governance models vary from region to region. The selection process for an appropriate governance design requires extensive consideration. Education and communication are crucial for its successful understanding and implementation.

The presentation addressed the above factors in detail and built connections between them.

“A balanced combination of innovation across all the factors will enhance the true Value of Water and therefore drive the industry water transition from single use to integrated management,” Henk Pool concluded.

Water efficiency
On 30 November an additional workshop on increasing water and energy efficiency in process industry took place looking at relevant tools, technologies and concepts. The workshop was jointly organised by the EU-funded Horizon 2020 projects WaterWatt and INSPIREWATER – a SPIRE project. The workshop included a number of case studies from the steel and the chemical industry regarding water and energy efficiency measures. Participants were also introduced to the recently developed online tool for evaluating energy efficiency (E3 Platform) and got the opportunity to test the tool during the workshop.

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.

'Industry Water: From Single Use to Integrated Management' Workshop

On 20 April, the WssTP and SusChem European Technology Platforms jointly hosted a successful and well-attended workshop on ‘Industry water: from single use to integrated management’ in Brussels.

The workshop succeeded in gathering challenges and perspectives on the management of smart industrial water reuse and featured contributions from the European Commission and the sector made by both “problem owners” and “solution providers”, and with a final insight on the holistic and systemic structure (Smart Governance and Digital Water) which addressed the challenges for discovering and exploiting the true Value of Water as highlighted in the WssTP Vision document.

For WssTP the Value of Water highlights the crucial role of water for our economy, industry, society, nature and citizens and foresees a future digitally connected water-smart society that works with waters of different qualities that are appropriate to their use.

SusChem sees fresh water as a scarce resource and a critical element for sustainable development of society. Water is a priority area for SusChem and it is pursuing specific topics with the overall aim of decoupling economic growth from actual water use.

Outputs for action 
The workshop produced tangible outputs through a final parallel breakout session that developed and proposed content, gaps, strengths and needs of the four pillars of the Value of Water vision:

• Modelling and Analysis
• Big Data
• Smart Governance, and 
• Sensor Networks.

This final session built the basis for an action plan to bring the outcomes of the workshop to the European Innovation Partnership for Water (EIP Water) Conference, which will be held in the city of Porto in the week of 25 September 2017. A group of participants from the workshop will support the further development of the outputs for final presentation at the EIP Water Conference. A list of action derived from the joint workshop will drive the content of a follow-up workshop that will take place during the EIP Water Conference.

The outputs and challenges identified for each pillar of the Value of Water are briefly described below:

Sensor Networks
Sensor development provides a unique opportunity for enhancing the Value of Water. Advanced sensor development is required to ensure continuous understanding and control of water quality. Handling of dynamic water systems requires advanced sensors. Full implementation, reliable operation costs and maintenance are important.

Big Data
Identifying the value of the water system in generating and creating data is central to its economic value. The creation of a resilient basis for cyber security and privacy legislation is necessary, as no holistic overview currently exists. Links between data silos and pockets of data should be established and prioritized.

Modelling and Analysis
Many models for enhancing water management exist in academia or within RTOs. But these methodologies need to be brought into context before moving to the next pilot phase. It is necessary to identify models and tailor them to the requirements of users in order to develop more efficient  water systems, while observing the interactions and implications.
 
Smart Governance
Smart governance models vary from region to region. The selection process for an appropriate governance design requires extensive consideration. Education and communication is crucial for its successful understanding and implementation.

For more information, please do not hesitate to contact the WssTP secretariat.

New WssTP Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda published

How can we realise the true value of water for our environment, economy and society? Is it possible to reduce the impact of Europe’s society on our natural water resources? In what way can we boost the European water market? How can we secure long-term resilience, stability, sustainability, and security of the society with regard to water? These and many more questions are answered in the European Water Platform (WssTP) Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (WssTP SIRA) which has just been published!

Following the release of the new WssTP Water Vision 2030 ‘The Value of Water: Towards a Future proof model for a European water-smart society’ in October 2016, WssTP has followed up with its new SIRA, The Value of Water; Multiple Waters, for multiple purpose and users, demonstrating an innovative route to implement the WssTP Water Vision.

SusChem works closely with WssTP and supports the platform's work including major joint collaborations such as the E4Water FP7 project that presented its results last year.

Key components
The WssTP Water Vision 2030 has been built on four Key Components (KC) of innovations, all contributing to increasing and better realising the Value of Water, and jointly defining the WssTP future-proof model for a water-smart and resilient society. These four components are:

• The Value of Water
• New Digital and Water Technologies
• A Hybrid Grey and Green Infrastructure
• An enabling inclusive multi-stakeholder Governance

To realise the WssTP Water Vision, the WssTP SIRA aims to combine real-life experimental environments (Living Labs) with dedicated research and innovation actions targeted at developing the 4 layers of the European model for a future proof water-smart society. The research and innovation actions, suggested by the WssTP Water SIRA are organised in six main components which are presented in the figure below:

WssTP is now in the process of translating the new Water Vision to all the EU’s official languages, promoting the understanding and use of the Water Vision not only at European level but also at national, regional and municipal level.

What is the WssTP vision?
The WssTP vision aims to show the routes towards a better exploitation and stewardship of our water sources by society and businesses while developing resilient and sustainable solutions for our key global water challenges. It describes how these challenges can be turned into opportunities for Europe, to develop new technologies, solutions, business and governance models for the water-smart society of the future. The vision imagines a future, where water scarcity and pollution of ground- and surface water in Europe are avoided, water, energy and resource loops are closed to a large extent to realise a circular economy, the water system is resilient against climate change events and European water-related business thrives as a result of forward-looking research and innovation.

For more information on WssTP activities and the new SIRA, please contact Durk Krol at the platform.

E4Water report demonstrates EU Chemical Industry's water eco-efficiency

Today (18 October 2016), the results of the 'SusChem inspired' E4Water project - a ground-breaking water sustainability initiative - were presented by Cefic during a joint task force meeting with the European Commission in Madrid. The project, which was sponsored jointly by the European Commission under the FP7 Research Framework programme and industry stakeholders, produced real-world outcomes in industrial contexts where companies used less energy, less freshwater, and produced less waste water.

Designed to give a major boost to the water efficiency of the European chemical industry, the E4Water project aimed to demonstrate the benefits of integrated, cost and energy efficient water management. Including 19 partners across nine EU countries, and with six pilot sites the total project investment was € 19 million and the project ran from 2012 to 2016.

“Although the European chemical industry is a standard-bearer for eco-friendly measures like cutting greenhouse gas and increasing energy efficiency, this project identifies important new potential for increased water efficiency. This not only helps safeguard the planet by saving water and energy but also costs for industry”, said William Garcia, Cefic Executive Director. “We hope to see the model this project demonstrates scaled up in other industries to make important gains for the climate.”

Pilot examples
Six pilot cases were conducted to demonstrate what is possible if the recommendations from this project are taken up by other industry stakeholders and integrated into their processes. The potential benefits shown in the pilot studies included:

• Reduction of 3 million m3 of freshwater per year
• Reduction of 2.5 million m3 of produced wastewater per year
• Reduced wastewater discharge by 4 million m3 per year
• Reduced resource use through more efficient processes
• 20% less energy used by implementing low energy technology
• A drop in operating expenditure of 30% for every m3 of saved freshwater/year
• Eliminating need for incineration (5,000 tonnes/annum/plant)

More information on the project and its outcomes can be found in the E4Water brochure with a more detailed report available on the project's website.

Water efficiency is a huge part of tackling climate change. The EU chemical industry – Europe’s fifth largest manufacturing sector – relies on water for many industrial processes. For example, processing, washing, heating, cooling and transporting products. To cut the amount of water required for these processes, the E4 Water project applied new research and development concepts to boost its eco-efficiency and sustainability.

Background
The ‘Economically and Ecologically Efficient Water Management in the European Chemical Industry’ (E4Water) project addressed crucial process industry needs to overcome bottlenecks and barriers for an integrated and energy efficient water management. The main objective was to enable more efficient and sustainable management of water in chemical industry sector and identify possibilities to share the models developed with other industrial sectors.

The E4Water project consortium united large chemical industries, leading European water sector companies and innovative RTD centres and universities active in the area of water management with and collaborators from national and regional water authorities. The project received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).

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! 

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.

Sustainable Chemistry: Innovation for Competitiveness

Today (16 June) at its annual Stakeholder event (#suschem2016) the European Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry (SusChem) will discuss how sustainable chemistry can continue to deliver  innovation for competitiveness for Europe. The SusChem Stakeholder Event is the biggest annual event held by the technology platform and brings together the chemical industry, academia, Research Technology Organisations (RTOs) and EU policy representatives to address common challenges and debate priorities in the European chemical and biotechnology innovation sectors.

SusChem Chairman Dr. Klaus Sommer (right) said: “In the context of the European Commission Innovation Strategy and the recently published action plans on the Circular Economy, Energy Union and Digitisation, this year’s Stakeholder Event will highlight the role of the European chemical industry in five innovation priority areas. These areas are Sustainable bio-economy, ICT for processes, Water, Catalysis and Processes, and Materials for Energy and were identified through intense discussions during our 2015 Stakeholder Event.”

                                                                                     

“Progress in these areas, as an integral part of the SusChem Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA), will be discussed in two panel debates. These discussions will help us to identify new opportunities and synergies and define priorities. The outcomes will help to create a shared view between the Chemical Industry and the European Commission on future research and innovation actions in the European chemical and biotechnology sectors. This will then be quality input for the next calls under the Horizon 2020 programme and other European and national collaborative research and innovation initiatives. This is exactly the role that a European Technology Platform like SusChem should play” he continued.

What is happening?

This year’s event will include a number of exciting activities and present important new developments for the SusChem community, including two lively high-level panel debates to discuss the recently published European Commission Innovation Strategy packages: Circular economy and the Energy Union and Digitisation.

Strategic topics related to SusChem funding and its programme will be described by Rudolf Strohmeier, former Deputy Director General of DG Research and Innovation, and this will be followed by SusChem chairman Dr Klaus Sommer presenting on 'Implementing the new SIRA: Status and priorities'.

Delegates will receive updates from working groups on the five main SusChem research and innovation priorities of Water; ICT for processes; Processes & Catalysis; SustainableBioeconomy; and Materials for Energy management.

SusChem's network of National Technology Platforms (NTPs) will also present and demonstrate their vital role in the SusChem eco-system by leveraging national government funds, working with SMEs and initiating cross border cooperation. 

Plenary debates

The afternoon sessions will be dominated by two plenary discussions on Circular economy and the Energy Union and Digitisation that will bring together strategy experts from the European Commission and captains of industry to discuss the hot topics surrounding these EC packages including:

• Identifying new challenges and opportunities for sustainable chemistry ;
• Identifying areas of consensus that align with the priorities of the EC and the European chemical industry; and
• Defining new ways forward to ensure that the five SusChem innovation priorities identified are systematically considered in these two new high-level policy initiatives.

 The first plenary debate will examine the “Circular Economy” and be moderated by Pierre Barthélemy, Executive Director of Research and Innovation at Cefic. Contributions from the European Commission will come from Reinhard Buescher, Head of Unit 'Chemicals' at DG Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (GROW), and Waldemar Kuett, Head of Unit 'Biobased Products and Processes' at DG Research and Innovation (RTD).

On the industry side the panellists are Reinier Grimbergen, Director Science to Innovate at DSM, Gloria Gaupmann, Public & Regulatory Affairs Manager, Group Biotechnology at Clariant, Anton Valero, General Manager of Dow Chemical Ibérica, and Greet van Eetvelde, Head of Energy & Innovation Policy at INEOS.

The second plenary debate will cover “Energy Union & Digitisation.” Alexis Bazzanella, Head Research & Project Coordination at DECHEMA e.V. is the moderator and panellists for the Commission are Khalil Rouhana, Director for 'Components & Systems' at DG Communications Networks, Content and Technology (CNECT), Marie Donnelly, Director for 'Renewables, Research and Innovation, Energy Efficiency' at DG Energy (ENER) and Helene Chraye, Head of Unit 'Advanced Materials and Nanotechnologies' at DG Research and Innovation (RTD).

On the industry side are Jens Rieger, Senior Vice President at BASF, Henrike Gebhardt, Senior Manager Scientific Relations at Evonik Industries AG, and Nicolas Cudre-Mauroux, Research & Innovation Group General Manager (CTO) at Solvay.

Event objectives

The SusChem Stakeholder Event is an annual high-level initiative that aims to:

• Improve dialogue between our stakeholders;
• Identify innovation drivers for the future;
• Present the European chemical industry as a solution provider to address societal challenges;
• Promote a common view between the chemical industry and the European Commission to increase synergies and develop shared solutions on innovation priority areas.

You can follow the SusChem Stakeholder event using the hashtag #suschem2016 The event takes place at the Hotel Bloom in Brussels, Belgium. The full programme for the event is available here: http://bit.ly/1On0L2A

SusChem Stakeholder 2016: Sustainable Water Solutions

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 Water. In this blog Henk Pool, 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.

Water is was one of the five SusChem priority areas for innovation. The European Commission’s action plan for ‘Closing the loop - An EU action plan for the Circular Economy’ translates literally to the realm of the chemical industry and its customers. Development of technologies enabling closing of water loops are highlighted in the two SusChem inspired European PPPs - Sustainable Process Industry through Resource and energy Efficiency (SPIRE) and Bio-Based Industries (BBI) – and are working to enable industry to seize the opportunities offered by water innovation programmes.

In the spring of 2016 SusChem set up a working group of water experts from industry to identify and develop the SusChem ‘Water Innovation Agenda’ at a European level and to build the base for future funding calls, projects and collaborations.

Water and Sustainable Chemistry
Water is a scarce resource and a critical element for the development of our society and economy. The continuing increase in urbanisation and agricultural production combined with new demands from the development of biobased and eco-industries and the need to preserve biodiversity and the natural ecosystem put high demands on water management. The chemical industry is a user of water but it is also an important solution provider of innovative products, technologies and services which can enable more sustainable water management. On this front, SusChem and the chemical industry are very active in the European Innovation Partnership Water (Water EIP).

Water is used in the chemical industry for many purposes including processing, washing, diluting and heating, cooling, and transporting product. The chemical industry aims at near-zero discharge of water by using closed-loop systems. The control of impurities in closed water systems needs a combination of real time monitoring tools and sensors, highly selective separation processes and new water treatments to prevent fouling and corrosion.

Water efficiency measures are also aligned with targets to reduce energy consumption: energy consumption is a critical indicator when developing new technologies for water management and water treatment.

Water symbiosis and delivery of ‘fit-for-purpose’ water are considered as key elements to ensure and enable the optimal and integrated (re)use of water not only for the chemical industry but also in collaboration with other sectors including urban and agricultural use.

Focus on Water Innovation
The new SusChem working group is currently completing its efforts and formulating recommendations, but broad areas for water innovation programmes already identified include:

• Water sources & availability Sources of water which have not been widely used, are now increasingly considered as important sources including desalination, re-use of treated wastewater, rainwater harvesting and gas humidity condensation (such as cooling tower blowdown). Different technical options are in development to access these sources with their specific implementation strongly dependent on local conditions. Development of ‘tailor-made’ system solutions and scale up testing for robust industrial processes will be required.
• Water treatment, reuse & resource recovery, and cross industry symbioses. ‘Fit for Purpose’ will become the driving force in water treatment and management. Developments required for full scale implementation of this new paradigm include:
• Development of new chemical additives for water treatment to facilitate reuse. 
• Economically effective solutions to remove and recover salts from industry water.
• Development of advanced membrane technologies to increase selectivity, reduce energy use and reduce maintenance operations (fouling resistance).
• Resource recovery (“circular economy”), development of novel highly selective and energy-efficient separation technologies to recover specific resources (e.g. phosphorous) from industry wastewater.
• Water analysis including online analysis & process development. Making the next steps forward in closing loops in industry water systems will require development of water monitoring systems and tools that are able to analyse water quality and quantity constantly. These analytical tools combined with process control will allow the closing of the water loops. Specific attention to the development of analytical instruments capable of determining the level of water disinfection required (e.g. to tackle legionella bacteria) will be required. Full understanding of the process in combination with advance process control will allow optimised dosing of treatment chemicals. Today these chemicals are added at high levels as a preventative measure. Better monitoring can ensure appropriate, lower dosing.
• Water distribution, in particular loss of water in distribution networks. Fresh water distribution systems can lose up to 20% of their water capacity due to leaks in their pipes and poor maintenance. Replacement of aging distribution infrastructure is expensive and/or impossible. The chemical industry has solutions that it would like to develop with partners along the value chain allowing retrofit leak repair of water distribution systems.

E4Water shows the way
A recently completed SusChem inspired and EU funded project E4Water has shown what is possible in the chemical and related sectors in terms of water management. At the project’s final conference in April 2016, new integrated approaches for efficient and sustainable water management were presented. Each of the six industrial case studies that formed the core of the project illustrated the ability to de-couple the growing economic activity of the chemical industry from actual water use. By carefully selecting the right water treatment and management processes and systems the six examples were able to demonstrate on an industrial scale who the chemical sector can enable water to be reused several times – our goal of near zero discharge of water is getting within reach!

You can download the final results brochure from the E4Water project here.

Water innovation potential
The European industry, led by the chemical industry, clearly has the opportunity to develop knowledge and solutions to radically reduce consumption of water and, as a consequence, reduce energy consumption too.

By developing these sustainable solutions Europe is gaining competitive advantage that can create new high-skilled jobs, while reducing its consumption of resources and energy, increasing its production capacity and continuing to create the innovative products that a changing global society needs.an excellent Moreover it shows how

SusChem inspired initiatives such as SPIRE are helping to make sustainable water use in a wide cross-section of European industries a reality. Close cooperation and alignment in the definition phases of the funding calls available under Horizon 2020 across all PPPs and all levels of stakeholder involvement is necessary to ensure that all the needs of the process industries are fully considered.

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 water treatment, reuse and management, are welcome in advance.

Registration for the 2016 SusChem Stakeholder event is now open. This dedicated registration website includes links to discounted accommodation at the Hotel Bloom in Brussels - the venue for 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.

SusChem Stakeholder 2016: Draft Agenda published

The draft agenda for the SusChem Stakeholder 2016 event (#suschem2016) has been published and registration is still open! Under the overarching theme ‘Sustainable Chemistry Innovation for Competitiveness’ the event will take place on 16 June 2016 at The Bloom Hotel in Brussels, Belgium.

The SusChem Stakeholder Event is the biggest annual event held by the European Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry (SusChem) and brings together the chemical industry, academia, Research Technology Organisations and EU policy representatives to address common challenges and debate priorities in the European chemical and biotechnology innovation sectors.

What’s happening?
This year’s event will include a number of exciting activities and present important new developments for the SusChem community, including two lively high-level panel debates to discuss the recently published European Commission Innovation Strategy packages: Circular economy and the Energy Union and Digitisation.

The doors of the event will open from 08:30 with the first presentation opening and welcoming delegates by SusChem Secretary Flavio Benedito at 09:30.

Strategic topics related to SusChem funding and its programme will then be described by Rudolf Strohmeier, Deputy Director General of DG Research and Innovation followed by SusChem chairman Dr Klaus Sommer presenting 'Implementing the new SIRA: Status and priorities'.

After coffee, delegates will receive updates from our working groups on the SusChem Priorities. The briefings will be given by the Cefic Innovation Managers with responsibility for the respective priorities. Henk Pool will update us on Water, Martin Winter will describe progress in two areas - ICT for processes and Processes & Catalysis, the work of the Sustainable Bioeconomy group will be outlined by Flavio Benedito and progress in Materials for Energy management will be described by Anne Chloe Devic. Just before lunch delegates can catch up with the latest news from SusChem's network of National Technology Platforms (NTPs).

Plenary debates
The afternoon sessions will be dominated by two plenary discussions. The first plenary will look at the “Circular Economy” and be moderated by Pierre Barthélemy, Executive Director of Research and Innovation at Cefic. Contributions from the European Commission will come from Reinhard Buescher, Head of Unit 'Chemicals' at DG Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (GROW), Luisa Presta, Head of Unit 'Environmental Technologies' at DG Research and Innovation (RTD) together with a contribution from DG Environment (ENV).

On the industry side the panellists are Reinier Grimbergen, Director Science to Innovate at DSM, Gloria Gaupmann, Public & Regulatory Affairs Manager, Group Biotechnology at Clariant, Anton Valero, President at Dow Chemical Spain and Portugal, and Greet van Eetvelde, Head of Energy & Innovation Policy at INEOS.

The second plenary debate takes place after coffee and will cover “Energy Union & Digitisation.” Alexis Bazzanella, Head Research & Project Coordination at DECHEMA e.V. is the moderator and panellists for the Commission are Khalil Rouhana, Director for 'Components & Systems' at DG Communications Networks, Content and Technology (CNECT), Marie Donnelly, Director for 'Renewables, Research and Innovation, Energy Efficiency' at DG Energy (ENER) and Helene Chraye, Head of Unit 'Advanced Materials and Nanotechnologies' at DG Research and Innovation (RTD).

On the industry side are Jens Rieger, Senior Vice President at BASF and Peter Nagler, Head of International Innovation at Evonik Industries AG.

#suschem2016 will conclude around 17:00.

Event objectives
The SusChem Stakeholder Event will be, as usual, a high-level initiative that aims to:

• Improve dialogue between our stakeholders;
• Identify innovation drivers for the future;
• Present the European chemical industry as a solution provider to address societal challenges;
• Promote a common view between the chemical industry and the European Commission to increase synergies and develop shared solutions on innovation priority areas.

Registration
A dedicated registration website has been set up for the event that includes links to discounted accommodation at the Hotel Bloom.

To ensure full, open and interactive discussions on current innovation priorities and to identify those that are missing from the European Commission packages, you are invited to submit your questions for the panels and also your expectations for outcomes from these two high-level panel debates 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.

You can register here. For more information on registration, please contact the SusChem secretariat.

Introducing the WssTP SME Awards 2016

The third edition of the WssTP Water Innovation SME awards is here! The WssTP platform invites all European SMEs to submit their innovative breakthrough solutions or technologies for the WssTP Water Innovation SME Awards 2016.  The awards will take place during the WssTP annual stakeholder conference, Water Innovation Europe 2016 (WIE2016), that will take place from 21 to 23 June 2016 in Brussels.

During WIE2016, the top ten short-listed entries will have the chance to present their innovations during the 'Innovation and Technology Pitches' session, just before the keynote speech from EU Commissioner for Research and Innovation Carlos Moedas on the first day of the full conference (22 June - pre-conference sessions take pace on 21 June). A speed dating session will follow, in which all applicants will have a table to discuss their innovations with other participants.

The four winning applications will be the ones characterised as best practises with high market potential in their field of application.

“The WssTP Water Innovation SME Awards are helping companies to sell and promote their innovation. Because they are awarded by a respected and widely appreciated association gives even more value to the winning innovations. These awards are proof to all stakeholders in the market that the innovation is a game changer that should be respected and taken seriously,” comments a representative of SansOx Oy from Finland who were winners of the WssTP Water Innovation SME Awards in 2014 and again in 2015.

Who, what and where? 
Αny independent private company with a legal address in Europe, less than 250 employees and a turnover of less than EUR 50 million turnover is eligible to enter the competition. The winners will receive a trophy, two years free membership of WssTP, and promotion through the WssTP website and social media channels.

The Awards ceremony itself will be held during the dinner of the Water Innovation Europe 2016 conference on the evening of 22 June at the Diamant Conference Centre in Brussels.

WIE2016
With over 200 participants from all around Europe, Water Innovation Europe is the landmark event for the European water sector. The event brings together all the aspects of the sector: scientists and technology developers, utility representatives, large water users, European and national/ regional policy makers and finance experts. Water Innovation Europe offers an open platform for information gathering and networking among the most influential stakeholders from within and beyond the water sector.

Sustainable Circular Economy: an idea to steal

Following the increasing interest and discussion about the Circular Economy Strategy that was recently launched by the European Commission a workshop entitled “The Sustainable Circular Economy – new opportunities for raw materials, chemicals and water?" was organised by Cefic, ERRIN and the East & North Finland region on Tuesday 15 March 2016. The event took place in Brussels and brought together different contributions to answer questions relating to the new opportunities provided by raw materials and industrial symbiosis, and regional support for innovation and competitiveness. The workshop also focused on EU policy and the role of research and innovation to enable a more sustainable circular economy. 

According to Grwegorz Radziejewski from Commissioner Jyrki Katainen’s cabinet: “The circular economy brings a win-win scenario, as it reduces waste and the use of the resources.  It represents an opportunity to the European economy to modernise itself and to enhance competitiveness.”

The proposed EU package will stimulate Europe's transition towards a circular economy, which will bring benefits for both the environment and the economy, providing sustainable solutions for (and from) the chemicals sector. The European proposal carries profound changes for innovation and investments, especially on waste management and recycling. Radziejewski also emphasised that the circular economy strategy will change the way products are designed, produced and consumed, bringing empowerment and knowledge to consumers.

“Diversification of chemical feedstock and better sustainability are essential to bring ecological alternatives to the chemicals sector,” highlighted Reinhard Buescher from the European Commission’s DG GROWTH. This means a better and wide use of sustainable oil and natural gas, sustainable minerals and biomass, recycled plastics, and the re-use of sustainable CO2. In terms of chemical production, it is important to invest in better worker security measures, environmental protection, resource efficiency, CO2 reduction, and innovation. “We need to achieve innovation thought new forms of symbioses, production and use of resources, for example, by replacing some substances for others that reduce the impact on water, air and soil,” explained Buescher. Once again, the importance of consumer information was reinforced, as well as the need to define quality standards for recycling plastics, better waste collection and sorting criteria, and the creation of new markets for secondary raw materials.

For 2016-2017, Europe can expect the launch of the European Sustainable Chemicals Service Centre, the adoption of the Fertilizer Regulation, a mapping of standards in support of sustainable chemicals, the adoption of a new Plastic Strategy (with DG ENV), among other initiatives.

Industry perspective
From the chemical industry perspective, the integration of sustainability, innovation and technology are fundamental to the development of a circular economy, which cannot be achieved only through regulations and business standards. Advanced technologies are fundamental to ensure better use of resources, new methods of production and recycling alternatives, in order to increase competitiveness in the global market. The role of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), such as SPIRE, can be emphasised here in the creation of new synergies and solutions along the various value chains, innovation networks, industrial and geographical sectors of the European economy.

Taking in consideration the growing world demand for chemicals and also the increasing volume of production and exports of chemicals and plastics by the United States and China, as competitors and leading countries in trade and innovation, Hartwing Wendt, Cefic’s Executive Director of Sustainability (pictured speaking above), stressed some of the key drivers impacting the relative decline of Europe’s chemical industry.

The European sector suffers from a feedstock disadvantage, reduced local demand from EU manufacturing industry, and changes in specific sectors that have effectively moved out of Europe (textiles and electronics, for example). In general, these drivers require the development of new products and business models. Besides that, there is a societal pressure to reduce the carbon intensity of feedstock and commodities. In this scenario, the circular economy seems the best option to deal with these challenges, and one good example could be the use of CO2 as an alternative carbon source.

Water not waste
A general consensus from the workshop related to the need to reduce waste and transform it into a source of raw material. Several Horizon 2020 projects were cited as answers, for example, to waste in the water sector and to energy efficiency demand including: Resyntex, Maslowaten, and Cyto-water.

For Violeta Kuzmickaite, from the WssTP technology platform, water is the most commonly used solvent on this planet. “Water is not a waste, but a raw material. Water is already circular,” she claimed showing its importance to establishing a sustainable circular economy.

An Urban Water Agenda 2030, presented by Pieter de Jong, on behalf of Wetsus – the European Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Water Technology, is based on four main challenges:

• Water quality
• Scarcity
• Floods, and
• Financing of infrastructure.

The agenda covers water efficiency, nutrient recovery, and water reuse, and has inspired the development of some projects: Hydrowashr, for the minimum water use for hand washing, and Value from Urine, for ammonia recovery.

Circular regions
The workshop also presented case studies on new businesses and opportunities provided by raw materials and industrial symbiosis.  Lapland region, for example, has potential to become one of the leading regions in the world in the sustainable exploitation of natural resources. This part of Finland has benefited from large investment in mining and it is focused on refining Arctic natural resources in a socially and ecologically sustainable manner, combined with high value added.

Castilla y Leon, in Spain, is another god example of regional strategy for circular economy and green jobs, involving government, universities, social agents and clusters. The region has introduced alternatives and new sustainable extraction and process technologies for mining bringing new markets, growth and jobs.

Finally, the Dutch region of Fryslân is another case of biobased and circular economy development: an example of what has been done in this region comes from the concrete industry, which now employs down-cycling rather than recycling.

All the presentations made at the workshop can be accessed here.