Cornerstone – Combined technologies for water, energy and solute recovery from industrial process streams.

The European “Green Deal” (European Commission, 2019) is fundamentally changing the European process industry. Europe aims to be climate-neutral by 2050 and to implement a functioning circular economy. To achieve this, transformation and adaptation in the process industry are essential, particularly in terms of water resource usage.

Industry is one of the main water consumers in Europe, consuming around 40% of the total water abstracted. Water serves as an energy source, product component, carrier medium for raw materials, and cleaning medium.

Water therefore plays a key role, especially in the primary and secondary sectors, and influences downstream value chains.

The discharge of industrial wastewater streams (either as direct discharge into water bodies or as indirect discharge into municipal wastewater treatment plants) is associated with a significant water footprint. Wastewater treatment is also associated with high operating costs (e.g., chemicals, energy consumption, etc.).

However, increasing water demand is currently forecast, significantly influenced by climate change. The European Innovation Partnership for Water and the European Water Resources Plan prioritize the reuse of treated wastewater.
The Cornerstone project specifically aims to significantly increase the recovery of water, energy, and dissolved substances for the corresponding applications using six different technologies.