INCLUE : From waste to resource: Training young researchers on developing innovative, circular solutions for waste sludge

利用废物资源化是实现全循环、可持续社会的前进方向。欧洲最主要的废物流之一是废水处理污泥，年总产量超过1300万吨。污泥通常含有多种顽固性和潜在的危险污染物，如全氟辛烷磺酸、内分泌干扰物、病原体和重金属，这就需要使用有效和可持续的处理策略。由于这些有害物质，目前污泥的有益利用受到限制，没有适当的整体解决方案。CLUE通过开发新的污泥处理路线、产生必要的见解以优化现有路线、评估污泥应用的影响，以及最重要的是，培训作为可再生化学品、材料和燃料资源的废物处理领域的高技能专家来应对这一机遇。CLUE的主要研发重点确实在于开发创新的技术进步，将消除污泥中日益存在的污染物与最大限度地回收资源结合起来。通过一个由6个学术组织和11个行业组织组成的广泛财团推动的国际、跨部门和跨学科的研究培训计划，将培训10名富有创造力和创业精神的DC。这一高度相关的领域，再加上涵盖横向技能和通过研究进行培训的高级培训计划，将确保训练有素的专业人员进入就业市场，进一步增强欧盟在该领域的竞争力。

Using waste as a resource is the way forward to realize a full circular and sustainable society. One of the most predominant waste streams in Europe concerns wastewater treatment sludge, with a total annual production surpassing 13 million tons. Sludge typically contains a diverse range of recalcitrant and potential hazardous contaminants such as PFAS, endocrine disruptors, pathogens and heavy metals, which necessitates the use of efficient & sustainable treatment strategies. Because of these hazardous substances, the beneficial use of sludge is currently limited with no adequate overall solutions. INCLUE responds to this opportunity by developing novel sludge treatment routes, generating the required insights to allow an optimisation of the current routes, assessing the effects of sludge application, and most importantly, training high-skilled experts in the rapidly expanding field of handling waste as a resource for renewable chemicals, materials and fuels. The main R&D emphasis of INCLUE lies indeed on developing innovative technological advances that combine the elimination of the increasingly present contaminants in sludge with a maximum resource recovery. Ten creative and entrepreneurial-minded DCs will be trained via an international, intersectoral and interdisciplinary research training program, pushed by a broad consortium of 6 academic and 11 industrial organisations. The highly relevant field, combined with an advanced training program that encompasses transversal skills and training through research will ensure that highly trained professionals will enter the job market, further strengthening the competitiveness of the EU in this domain.