The agro-food industrial sector is required to treat large quantities of wastewater (20,000 l /product kg) rich in organic matter content (30 kg Chemical Oxygen Demand – COD – per m3 wastewater). Anaerobic digesters treat high COD wastewater and produce biogas used as a renewable energy source. Nevertheless, even the most advanced high-rate systems present important technical and economic limitations: 1) Post-treatment (usually aerobic) is still required for wastewater discharge on surface water (COD elimination rates are in the range of 60-80% for current technologies), 2) Digester investment costs are high (€300,000 for the smallest reactors), 3) The efficiency of biogas production is low (35-50%). The above confirms that the industry is on demand of low price digesters and high efficiency biogas production solutions that will increase COD elimination rates. Through the launch of ANAERGY, Ingeobras and Proycon consortium aim to respond to these demands by introducing a proprietary Multiphase Sequential Anaerobic Digester, being the first demonstrated solution able to combine anaerobic, aerobic and photocatalysis in one digester. Our current prototype was built in-house and has been tested under relevant industrial conditions in 4 pilot plants, offering very high COD elimination rates (up to 99.8%) allowing for direct discharge to the land and a 60% increase in biogas production efficiency. At a low price (€150,000) and with very low operational cost we are offering a extremely efficient solution for the agro-food industry to treat water without need of post-treatment (60% reduction in operational costs). Furthermore, the production of biogas will cover industry energy needs up to 80%, enabling a return of investment of 12-20 months. We target commercialisation by 2021Q1, starting with 26 units sold going up to 80 in 2024, and expecting to achieve an accumulated profits of more than €17,9M over first four years.

Enhancing of wastewater treatment technologies is a key goal of the EU to achieve sustainable and circular economy. Due to the required high investment and operational costs of current technologies, many industries find more economical to pay fines for direct discharges of polluted effluents than to treat them. Particularly, the heterogeneity and seasonality of the agro-food sector produce a broad variety of wastewater streams which claim for more efficient and customizable solutions to meet with increasingly stringent wastewater regulations. Within this context, Ingeobras and Proycon have developed ANAERGY, a modulable wastewater treatment system that integrates for the first time: anaerobic, aerobic and advanced oxidation stages. The exclusive design of the anaerobic digester, including patented PUREMUST® technology, enable to reach high pollutants elimination rates (95-99%) and production of biogas (16 m3/m3). Also, its small size and flexibility allow reducing installation and operational costs, together with a tailored response to end-user´s requirements. Following their collaboration for 12 years, Ingeobras will manage technical upgrades, assembly, commercialization and installation, while Proycon will be in charge of manufacturing the digesters. The adoption of ANAERGY by industries lead to major economic savings by eliminating wastewater discharge fees and reducing energy costs (biogas ≈80% energy needs). The benefits that ANAERGY will bring to the market will make the proposed project profitable with a ROI of 6.6 over 4 years and a payback period by the 1st quarter of the second year. Likewise, by improving current technology, ANAERGY will decrease water pollution, increase water reusability and strengthen renewable energy share. Together, these actions generate social, environmental and economic benefits for all society, contributing to overall well-being, water and food security, and sustainable development.

The overwhelming scientific evidence provided by the academic corpus indicates that to tackle the origin and negative impacts of nutrient pollution on water, soil and biodiversity, a wide landscape-river-sea system approach needs to be used. This should work on sustainable land management practices (especially, agricultural ones), improved wastewater treatment, and feasible nature restoration strategies. The project SEACURE will aim at demonstrating, scaling up and replicating effective innovations for the systemic prevention and reduction of nutrient pollution in the Mediterranean Sea basin, in line with the innovation ecosystem framework provided by the ongoing Mediterranean Lighthouse projects (as BlueMissionMed) and in close cooperation with related activities implemented by regional soil health living labs in the area. The project is dedicating resources for the regional upscale and replication of successful nutrient management strategies devoted to: i) reduce soil pollution and enhance its restoration; ii) reduce fertilizers use and nutrient losses; and iii) prevent, minimize and remediate nutrients pollution in freshwater and marine ecosystems, in six territorial units (Mar Menor and Central Catalunya in Spain, Po delta and Esino river in Italy, and Axios river delta and Thessaly Plain in Greece). On one hand, the viability and impact will be evaluated. On the other hand, partners will act on innovation levers: policy uptake, societal awareness, capacity building and funding availability. Regional business plans for upscaling the effective strategies in the territorial units will be crafted, taking advantage of the regional mobilisation of innovation ecosystems already carried out during the project. Finally, the replication of knowledge will be encouraged thanks to the technical assistance to Associated Regions through FSTP grants. In summary, the project is embracing the Missions’ impact-driven approach, working with actors to maximise its results’ uptake.