TAUW GMBH

Their core work

TAUW is a German environmental consultancy and engineering firm specializing in soil and water remediation. In H2020 projects, they contribute practical expertise in cleaning up contaminated sites — from hydrocarbon-polluted soils to water bodies affected by pharmaceuticals and pesticides. Their role bridges the gap between laboratory-developed remediation technologies and real-world field application, bringing industry knowledge of site assessment, validation, and scale-up to research consortia.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

TAUW's H2020 trajectory shows a clear shift from broad-spectrum environmental remediation toward increasingly specific emerging contaminants. Their early work (GREENER, 2019) covered traditional pollutants — hydrocarbons, heavy metals — using a wide toolkit of bioremediation methods. By 2021, their focus had narrowed to pharmaceutical contamination in water (REMEDI), reflecting the growing regulatory and public concern around micropollutants in European water systems.

TAUW is moving toward emerging contaminants (pharmaceuticals, micropollutants) in water — a high-priority area under the revised EU Water Framework Directive, making them a relevant partner for future water quality projects.

How they like to work

TAUW operates exclusively as a consortium participant, never as coordinator — consistent with their role as an industry partner that brings field expertise and validation capacity rather than academic research leadership. Across just 3 projects they have worked with 37 different partners in 14 countries, indicating they integrate easily into large, diverse consortia. Their participation in both MSCA training networks and RIA projects suggests they are valued as a bridge between academic research and industrial practice.

With 37 unique partners across 14 countries from only 3 projects, TAUW has a broad European network concentrated in the environmental remediation research community. Their involvement in MSCA networks means connections to both universities training the next generation and established research groups.

What sets them apart

TAUW brings something many research consortia lack: a professional environmental consultancy's perspective on what actually works in the field. While universities develop remediation technologies in the lab, TAUW contributes validation, scale-up know-how, and understanding of real contaminated sites. For consortium builders, they offer a credible industry voice that strengthens impact claims and exploitation plans without competing with academic partners for research leadership.

Highlights from their portfolio

• REMEDI
  Largest funding (EUR 421K) and focused on the high-priority topic of pharmaceutical contamination in water — a rapidly growing regulatory concern across Europe.
• GREENER
  Comprehensive environmental remediation project combining multiple biological treatment methods (bio-electrochemical, phytoremediation, biopile) for both water and soil cleanup.