Together with partners from the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Germany, REMONDIS Aqua Industrie GmbH & Co. KG participates in the joint research project WOW! (Wider business Opportunities for raw materials from Waste water), which is supported by the European Union. Sewage contains materials that contain carbon and could be used as a raw material for bio-based products. This potential is currently hardly used, which leads to the loss of valuable raw materials, to CO₂ emissions and to consumption of natural resources. There are market opportunities for raw materials from sewage, however, these require a change in values in sewage treatment, with the treatment plant being viewed as a source of raw materials. In the WOW! project, value chains for three raw materials from sewage, with five products to be produced from them, are to be investigated: cellulose (biochar, bio-oil, acetic acid), lipids (biodiesel) and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA – bioplastic). The recovery of the three raw materials from communal sewage is to be tested with pilot systems of different technology readiness levels (TRL).

• Identify high-potential value chains for carbon-based raw materials from sewage
• Develop a decision support tool for the use of carbon-based raw materials from sewage
• Demonstrate the technical feasibility of utilisation of cellulose, fat and PHA from sewage in three pilot applications