The EU funding award is recognition of 20Fity’s growing international credentials as one of Europe’s leading water stewardship research units.
Limerick-based sustainability firm 20Fifty Partners has been awarded €1.2m in Horizon Europe funding.
The funding will enable the business to continue its internationally recognised state-of-the-art research on water circularity, resource recovery, demand reduction and decarbonisation of industrial water lifecycles.
Securing the funding is a major success, as they were awarded two of only three granted in this call.
Waste not, water not
Horizon Europe’s funding programme plays a pivotal role in addressing climate change, achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and boosting the EU’s competitiveness and growth.
€20m of funding awarded covers two projects, RESURGENCE and CORNERSTONE, both of which support the EU’s twin Green & Digital transition goals and the target to demonstrate potential for 80% of wastewater reuse by 2030.
With a focus on state-of-the-art water circularity outcomes in the industrial sector, these projects are poised to make significant contributions to identified environmental and societal benefits, aligning with the EU’s climate neutrality goal.
“According to the UN, Industrial water use globally is expected to grow dramatically by 2050 with a 400% growth rate predicted across global manufacturing sites alone,” said Ken Stockil, CEO, 20FIFTY Partners.
“This is unsustainable. Delivering this highly impactful research will provide significant environmental and societal benefits, contributing to the EU climate neutrality goal. This is exactly the type of impact we want to make as we build on our expertise in leading water research in the industrial sector. For our first engagement in Horizon Europe, this is an incredible achievement for which I would like to thank all the team involved.”
20Fifty Partners will build upon 20 years of leading water research in the industrial sector, including their recently published EPA-funded Industrial Water 4.0 report, to deliver the outcomes.
“The EPA is delighted to see previous EPA-funded research by 20Fifty Partners now being built on and taken forward through these larger European projects,” said Dr Tara Higgins, EPA Programme Manager.
“Improving water circularity in the industrial sector can make a significant contribution to meeting our climate and sustainability objectives, and we congratulate 20FIFTY Partners on their success in securing Horizon Europe funding for this important research.”
Both projects are expected to contribute to sustainable industrial water consumption, enable full circular use of water, and maximize recovery of substances and energy in wastewater streams.
To achieve these outcomes, the projects will seek to combine existing and novel water treatment technologies, smart monitoring technologies, and advanced digital tools for optimisation. The integration of these technologies aims to enable the techno-economic feasibility of processes and technologies for water treatment and recycling.
“The Energy Process Industries’ climate neutrality goal is strongly related to the objectives of becoming independent of fossil fuel with greener, more energy efficient production processes, advancing digitalisation and embracing the circular economy,” said Dr Sergio Fernandez-Ceballos, National Delegate for Horizon Europe at Enterprise Ireland.
“Contributing to this agenda, RESURGENCE and CORNERSTONE scored among the top three projects in Europe in the Process4Planet Horizon Europe programme and show novel and sustainable avenues and technologies for industrial water treatment. Horizon Europe offers significant opportunities to Irish SMEs and it is great to see the 20Fifty Partners team working with leading EU steel, pulp and paper and chemicals industries at this scale.”
Main image at top: Áine Hennessy, Colm Gaskin, Aisling O’Connor and Ken Stockil from 20Fifty Partners
