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From waste to resource: Training young researchers on developing innovative, circular solutions for wastewater treatment sludge - INCLUE
INCLUE will set up the first European doctoral training network on developing innovative, circular solutions for the treatment of sludge containing pollutants.
INCLUE will train 11 creative and entrepreneurially-minded DCs via an international, intersectoral and interdisciplinary research training program in the field of sludge pre-treatment combined with state-of-the-art bioconversion techniques and multi-level toxicity assessment, for the effective removal and/or recovery of both hazardous and valuable compounds from municipal and industrial sludges.
The success of the program is guaranteed via a unique combination of state-of-the-art PhD research, intersectoral secondments, international mobility and interdisciplinary platform-wide courses.
Develop and optimise sustainable techniques to enhance the properties and composition of sludge through removal of (in)organic pollutants to eliminate any adverse effects for sludge application (i) in a subsequent bioconversion process or (ii) directly as a fertiliser on land.
Develop augmented fermentative bioconversion processes to produce renewable chemicals and fuels, and to recover nutrients from municipal and industrial sludges, potentially combined with pre-treatment technologies.
Create tools to assess the overall environmental performance of treated sludges towards toxicity, pollutant soil dynamics and agricultural
fertilising value in a combined decision support tool (WP3) for 5 different types of pollutants: pesticides, endocrine disrupting compounds, heavy metals, PFAS and antibiotics. Develop a socio-economic evaluation tool, to support decision-making and societal acceptance.
