SMART-Plant · Project

Turning Wastewater into Bioplastics, Fertilizers and Cellulose at Existing Treatment Plants

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Imagine your city's sewage plant is basically flushing money down the drain — literally. SMART-Plant figured out how to bolt new equipment onto existing wastewater plants so they can pull out valuable stuff like bioplastics, cellulose fiber, and fertilizer ingredients from the dirty water. They tested 9 pilot systems at 5 real municipal plants across Europe for over 2 years, proving it works at real scale. Think of it like recycling bins for sewage — instead of just cleaning the water and throwing away the sludge, you harvest materials that factories actually want to buy.

By the numbers

pilot systems built and operated

municipal wastewater treatment plants used as test sites

years of real-environment optimization

consortium partners

countries represented

industry partners in the consortium

SMEs in the consortium

post-processing facilities included

The business problem

What needed solving

Wastewater treatment plants spend heavily on sludge disposal and energy while flushing valuable materials — bioplastics precursors, cellulose, phosphorus — straight to waste. Utilities face rising disposal costs, tightening circular economy regulations, and growing pressure to reduce their carbon footprint. Meanwhile, chemical and fertilizer companies face volatile raw material prices and want sustainable, locally sourced alternatives.

The solution

What was built

The project built and commissioned 9 pilot-scale material recovery systems (7 mainstream, 2 sidestream) installed at 5 real municipal wastewater plants and 2 post-processing facilities. These automated systems recover biopolymers, cellulose, and fertilizer products processed to marketable end-product quality, supported by Life Cycle Assessment and decision-support modeling tools.

Audience

Who needs this

Municipal water utilities looking to reduce sludge costs and recover valueBioplastics manufacturers seeking sustainable feedstock sourcesFertilizer companies wanting domestic phosphorus recovery alternativesEngineering firms specializing in water treatment plant upgradesChemical companies interested in bio-based intermediates from waste streams

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Water utilities

enterprise

Target: Municipal wastewater treatment plant operators

If you are a water utility struggling with rising sludge disposal costs and tightening environmental regulations — this project developed 9 pilot-tested retrofit systems that extract biopolymers, cellulose, and fertilizer from your existing wastewater streams. Tested at 5 real municipal plants over 2 years, these bolt-on technologies can turn your waste liability into a revenue stream without rebuilding your infrastructure.

Chemical and bioplastics manufacturing

mid-size

Target: Bioplastics producers and chemical companies seeking bio-based feedstock

If you are a bioplastics or chemical company looking for sustainable, locally sourced raw materials — SMART-Plant demonstrated commercial-grade recovery of biopolymers and cellulose directly from municipal wastewater. With 20 industry partners already in the consortium, the supply chain from wastewater plant to chemical processor has been mapped and validated across 11 countries.

Agriculture and fertilizer production

any

Target: Fertilizer companies and agricultural suppliers

If you are a fertilizer producer dealing with volatile phosphorus prices and supply chain risks — this project proved phosphorus and nutrient recovery from wastewater at pilot scale in 5 municipal plants. The recovered fertilizer products were processed up to final marketable end-products, offering a domestic alternative to imported mineral phosphorus.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What does this cost to implement at our plant?

The project focused on retrofit solutions designed to integrate into existing wastewater treatment infrastructure, avoiding full plant rebuilds. Specific cost figures are not published in the available project data. Contact the coordinator for Life Cycle Costing results, which were part of the project's deliverables.

Has this been tested at industrial scale?

Yes. 9 pilot systems (7 mainstream + 2 sidestream) were built, commissioned, and operated for over 2 years at 5 real municipal wastewater treatment plants plus 2 post-processing facilities across Europe. This is not lab-scale — these are real installations processing actual municipal wastewater.

How do I license or access these technologies?

The consortium includes 20 industry partners and 8 SMEs across 11 countries. Several of these are technology providers who developed the specific recovery systems. Based on available project data, commercial deployment routes were explored through public-private partnership models connecting water utilities to chemical industry buyers.

What materials can actually be recovered?

The project demonstrated recovery of biopolymers (bioplastics), cellulose fiber, phosphorus-based fertilizers, and chemical intermediates. These were processed up to final marketable end-products, not just lab samples.

Does this meet environmental regulations?

The project included full Life Cycle Assessment to prove environmental sustainability and reduction of greenhouse emissions. As an EU-funded Innovation Action, the technologies were designed to help utilities meet tightening circular economy regulations.

How long does it take to see results after installation?

Based on the project timeline, commissioning was completed as documented in dedicated deliverables, and systems were then optimized for over 2 years. The automation features were designed to optimize performance from the start of operation.

Consortium

Who built it

SMART-Plant has one of the strongest industry-weighted consortia you'll find in EU water research: 20 out of 30 partners are from industry (67%), with 8 SMEs included. The 11-country spread across Europe, plus Canada and Israel, signals serious international market ambition. The coordinator is Università Politecnica delle Marche in Italy, a university with strong applied engineering credentials. The heavy industry presence — including technology developers, utilities, and chemical companies — means the technologies were built with commercial deployment in mind from the start, not just academic publication.

UNIVERSITA POLITECNICA DELLE MARCHECoordinator · IT
AQLARA INFRAESTRUCTURAS SAparticipant · ES
UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI VERONAparticipant · IT
VANNPLASTIC LTDparticipant · UK
FUNDACIO UNIVERSITARIA BALMESparticipant · ES
SALSNES FILTER ASparticipant · NO
BIOTREND-INOVACAO E ENGENHARIA EM BIOTECNOLOGIA SAparticipant · PT
ETHNICON METSOVION POLYTECHNIONparticipant · EL
AGROBICS LTDparticipant · IL
SEVERN TRENT WATER LIMITEDparticipant · UK
INNOEXC GMBHparticipant · CH
WELLNESS TELECOM SLparticipant · ES
MEKOROT WATER COMPANY LIMITEDparticipant · IL
SPECIALIST BUILDING PRODUCTS LIMITEDparticipant · UK
ETAIREIA YDREYSEOS KAI APOCHETEFSEOS PROTEYOYSIS ANONIMI ETAIREIAparticipant · EL
BRUNEL UNIVERSITY LONDONparticipant · UK
UNIVERSITAT AUTONOMA DE BARCELONAparticipant · ES
CRANFIELD UNIVERSITYparticipant · UK
UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI ROMA LA SAPIENZAparticipant · IT
INSTITUTO DE BIOLOGIA EXPERIMENTAL E TECNOLOGICAparticipant · PT
KWB KOMPETENZZENTRUM WASSER BERLIN GEMEINNUTZIGE GMBHparticipant · DE

How to reach the team

The coordinator is Università Politecnica delle Marche (Italy). SciTransfer can facilitate a direct introduction to the project team.

Order a report on this consortium See UNIVERSITA POLITECNICA DELLE MARCHE profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to know which SMART-Plant technologies fit your plant? SciTransfer can arrange a tailored briefing with the right consortium partner for your situation.

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