ACCEL WATER
- PROJECTS
- Nov 1, 2020
- 2 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
Accelerating water circularity in food and beverage industrial areas around Europe
Duration: 1 November 2020 - 30 April 2025
Funding programme: H2020-LCCI-2020-EASME-singlestage
Project budget: € 9.351.000,82
SEL NTUA budget: € 1.517.500,00
Coordinator: AGENSO
SEL NTUA role: WP3 ‘Industrial Symbiosis Demonstrator’ leader
Project website: accelwater.eu
Project summary and objectives
The food and drink industry is the EU's largest manufacturing sector but is highly water- and energy-intensive, producing significant waste. It consumes 56% of available industrial and urban water and embeds 28% of total production energy use. The European food industry directly consumes 28.4 Mt oil equivalent in energy and generates 30.6 Mt of food waste. While modern technologies have improved water efficiency, efforts to reduce freshwater use in raw material processing remain limited.
High water consumption increases production costs due to expensive wastewater treatment and industrial electricity prices. Current wastewater treatment solutions include clarification, membrane filtration, reverse osmosis, and biological treatment. However, these methods are rarely applied within a water-waste-energy nexus. The AccelWater project aims to optimize freshwater use in the food and beverage industry. By integrating advanced water reclaiming, AI-driven monitoring, and energy management, the project will enhance sustainability. This approach will reduce environmental impact while improving economic efficiency in the industry.
Project demonstration sites
DEMO 1 Industrial Symbiosis Demonstrator (Industrial area of Patra, Patra, Greece)
DEMO 2 Tomato Processing Demonstrator (Castel San Giorgio, Italy)
DEMO 3 Meat Processing Industry Demonstrator (Barcelona, Spain)
DEMO 4 Fish Processing Industry Demonstrator (Akureyri,Iceland)
SEL's expertise in the project
Within the context of AccelWater, SEL NTUA leads WP3, the "Industrial Symbiosis Demonstrator," focusing on the proper implementation of water and wastewater treatment and reuse practices in the industrial area of Patras, Greece. The project also emphasizes the valorization of end-of-life organic materials, including brewers' spent grains and acid whey from yogurt, through anaerobic digestion. Furthermore, the laboratory plays a key role in identifying emerging contaminants in reclaimed water used to irrigate a 5,000-square-meter agroforestry area.
