Developing innovative, circular solutions for wastewater treatment sludge

On the 2nd of October, the INCLUE project was featured at the STOWA Slib Symposium 2025, where researchers and industry experts gathered to discuss the future of sludge (“slib” in Dutch) management in the Netherlands under the theme “Zijn we klaar voor 2050?” (“Are we ready for 2050?”). Andrea Deiana (DC4) presented a pitch on his research, ensuring that the fate of emerging contaminants would not slib out of the talks. Covering topics from sludge incineration capacity to the presence of contaminants of emerging concern, from dewatering to alternative uses

On Friday, 5 and 19 September 2025, KU Leuven’s Doctoral Researcher Paniz Pouryaghoubi (DC8) hosted two interactive workshops on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology and the use of GaBi (Sphera) software for environmental sustainability evaluations. The goal of the sessions was to deepen participants’ understanding of sustainability metrics and environmental impact analyses while equipping them with the essential knowledge to conduct LCA modeling. LCA is a powerful methodology for evaluating the environmental impacts of a product or process throughout its entire life cycle, from raw material extraction to disposal. As highlighted

The INCLUE project is proud to announce that our researcher, Tiago Martins, has been selected as the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Fellow of the Month for August. The MSCA Fellow of the Month is a monthly spotlight initiative by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, showcasing the achievements of outstanding fellows across Europe and beyond. The recognition highlights not only scientific excellence but also the impact of fellows’ work on society, sustainability, and international collaboration. This recognition highlights Tiago’s outstanding contribution to sustainable innovation in wastewater treatment. His research at KU Leuven

From June to August 2025, INCLUE Doctoral Candidate Andrea Deiana (DC4) completed his first secondment in collaboration with Torwash, one of the project’s most active associate partners. Under the guidance of Jan Pels, researcher and co-founder of Torwash, Andrea conducted a series of tests on the thermal treatment of microplastics and sludge under varying conditions. This work is part of a joint research effort with Doctoral Candidate Martine (DC6), based at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). Together, they are investigating the effects of combining thermal processes and anaerobic

Francisco Ayala, DC1 from KU Leuven, has begun on July 2nd his secondment at James Kwan’s research group (University of Oxford), internationally recognized for its expertise in sonochemistry and reactor engineering. Here, Francisco will deepen his research on ultrasound degradation and defluorination of PFAS. Prof. Kwan’s group is uniquely equipped with state-of-the-art and in-lab developed ultrasound reactors that can operate across a wide range of frequencies and pressures. This will allow Francisco to explore how mid- and high-frequency and pressures influence PFAS degradation pathways, defluorination efficiency, energy consumption, and by-product