| Project Detail |
Identifying industrial chemicals in soil and water
Industry plays an important role in supporting the circular economy. To help Europe reach its ambitious Green Deal objectives, the EU-funded PROMISCES project will identify how industrial pollution prevents the development of a circular economy in the EU and detect strategies to overcome the principal bottlenecks that impede reaching the targets of the European Green Deal and Circular Economy Action Plan. The project will develop new analytical methods and toxicological tools to deliver data on persistent, mobile (PM) substances in complex environmental matrices and investigate sources of PM substances released from soil, sediments, landfills and wastewater treatment plants and via urban runoff into relevant natural systems. PROMISCES will assess fate and transport processes and improve the assessment and management of human health risks.
PROMISCES will identify how industrial pollution prevents the deployment of the circular economy (CE) in the EU and which strategies help overcome key bottlenecks to deliver the ambitions of the European Green Deal and Circular Economy Action Plan.
PROMISCES considers specific CE routes including (i) semi-closed water cycles for drinking water supply at urban and catchment scale; (ii) wastewater reuse for irrigation in agriculture; (iii) nutrient recovery from sewage sludge; (iv) material recovery from dredged sediment and (v) land remediation for safe reuse in urban areas.
To reach its goals, PROMISCES will:
- Develop new analytical methods and toxicological tools to provide data on persistent, mobile (PM) substances (i.e. PFAS and other industrial chemicals) in complex environmental matrices.
- Explore sources and environmental pathways of PM substances released from (i) soil; (ii) sediment; (iii) landfills; (iv) wastewater treatment plants and via (v) urban runoff into relevant environmental compartments (soil, sediment, surface water, groundwater).
- Assess fate and transport pathways within the different CE routes and evaluate the impacts of corrective measures.
- Improve the assessment and management of human health risks from drinking water and agricultural products.
- Develop and demonstrate cost-efficient and sustainable technologies for the removal of PM substances from different media.
- Translate PROMISCES results into guidance for efficient and feasible management of PM substances and recommendations for the implementation of relevant EU policy strategies and directives.
- Integrate the results into a decision support framework which considers resource recovery and water reuse and supports chemical management decisions with regards to i) stakeholders and societal demands; ii) PM chemical properties iii) technical solutions to prevent, mitigate and remediate industrial pollution and iv) the whole life cycle of current and future chemicals. |
