Using integrated experimental and modelling approaches, FLEXIBI studies the potential of residues from agri– and horticulture, gardening and landscaping, as well as from post-consumer wood from peri-urban and urban areas as feedstocks for Small-Scale Flexi-Feed Biorefineries (SFB). FLEXIBI evaluates the potential of these biogenic residues and their mixtures for production of bio-based materials and local energy generation via different biorefinery processes. The use of biomass from different feedstocks will allow the use of local and all-year available feedstocks to limit transportation and logistics issues while promoting local production of high value compounds, soil improvers and energy. FLEXIBI aims at designing a decision support tool assessing the different pathway for the establishment of SFBs by evaluating all parameters accounting to find sustainable solutions. Quantitative process modelling and knowledge engineering approaches are used to set-up the tool and value-creation oriented schemes for under-valorised residue-based bioresources. These will be used to support the SFB design on regional/local level .

In Europe, urban organic waste is projected to reach 96 Million Mg in 2020. Its management is challenging. Efficient processes are important to create higher value products. DECISIVE investigates decentralised management with an focus on anaerobic digestion combined with biogas and digestate utilization. Decentral approaches are beneficial e.g. in terms of lower collection needs, higher flexibility, system resilence, citizens involvement, and local employment.

Germany was repeatedly sued for exceeding nitrate limits in groundwater. The main cause of these and other nutrient inputs into the water bodies is industrial agriculture. In addition to an unequal distribution of livestock farms and the resulting regional surplus of manure and digestates, soil degradation is one of the main problems as a direct result of conventional farming measures on agricultural land. Further consequences are loss of biodiversity in the soil, on the fields and in the adjacent biotopes as well as a lower resilience of entire regions to strong weather events. For food security and a sustainable use of the natural resources of our environment, a rethinking in agriculture is urgently needed. The paradigm shift from a consideration of soil as a substrate to a holistic understanding of soil as an ecosystem has already taken place in many scientific disciplines. The methods for assessing soil quality and soil health are manifold and range from low-tech methods for direct evaluation in the field to comprehensive parameter sets using various field and laboratory methods. At the same time, many basic processes of nutrient transport and the role of soil organic matter have not yet been sufficiently investigated. The measures and possibilities for more sustainable agriculture are being researched and evaluated in a large number of projects. The implementation of such concepts and the transfer of the paradigm shift from science to practice in Germany has failed so far. However, this transfer is of great importance in order to limit nutrient inputs from agriculture and soil degradation. Within the framework of this project, various methods for assessing soil health will be identified and evaluated, on the basis of which possibilities for the development of sustainable agriculture will be demonstrated. The focus is on the possibilities of soil-building and water-conserving agriculture with the aim of establishing natural water and nutrient cycles.

Since current wastewater treatment is not designed for the elimination of micropollutants (such as active pharmaceutical ingredients, hormones, X-ray contrast agents, pesticides and microplastics), these substances are released from municipal wastewater via wastewater treatment plants into the aquatic environment. The MicroStop-project is investigating a combination of a fixed-bed reactor and a nanofiltration. While nanofiltration represents a barrier for the micropollutants, these are biologically degraded in the fixed-bed reactor. The purified permeate is suitable for further use such as in industry, agriculture or in semi-arid regions also for direct or indirect reuse.

Work is on-going to investigate the causes and distribution of three important parasites: in the Elbe and Rhine rivers. Whereas the water medium has attracted considerable research efforts, waterborne transmission of these life-threatening microorganisms still constitutes a serious public health risk. In the on-going investigation, 97 mussels of Dreissena polymorpha and Corbicula fluminea have been analysed for the presence of protozoan parasites using microbiological and molecular techniques. Cryptosporidium spp have been detected in 53% E. histolytica in 30% Giardia spp in 48% of the mussels sample examined. Thus evidence is accumulating in support of a link between wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) discharge and the occurrence and distribution of protozoan parasites in river courses. This ‘nexus’ is the focus of this investigation. Up to now, research has only been able to provide partial answers to the contribution of WWTPs to microbial pollution of water bodies and recreational sites, underscoring the need for a significant expansion of known epidemiological approaches and their harnessing as bio-monitoring tools. The purpose of this work is mainly two-fold: 1) to establish the link between the wastewater discharges and the spread of parasites; 2) to catalyze basic research effort that enables a correct understanding of the dynamics of these organisms, which is vital for the development of prevention strategies against disease outbreaks.In epidemiological studies, it is important to take into account all factors that could interfere with biological results. Parasitism and disease dynamics are known to be strongly influenced by environmental conditions. Effects of factors such as temperature, nutrients and salinity on the mussel-protozoa interaction and the ultimate transmission of the pathogens need to be investigated as fluctuations can have far-reaching implications on disease outbreaks.The first phase of this work which targeted the Rhine river has generated interesting data that needs to be verified and validated through replicated work as foreseen in the original project plan. Thus the next phase in the work will involve an intensive sampling of the Elbe river and analysis of raw data from Hamburg WWTPs.This study will generate a complete understanding of the epidemiology of the three pathogens. How they: enter the environment, invade and are transmitted. The study will provide leads as to how protozoa diseases scale up from individuals to populations and communities. Furthermore, findings of the study will contribute to on-going efforts to develop an effective tool, with Mussel as the choice biological model, for sanitary biomonitoring of water bodies. In addition, findings will have relevance to the Ministry of Health’s department of infectious disease control, which establishes water-quality standards for pathogens to protect public health.

Im Verbundprojekt - KREIS soll in Zusammenarbeit mit wissenschaftlichen Einrichtungen und Praxispartnern aus ganz Deutschland ein neues Entwässerungskonzept, der HAMBURG WATER Cycle® in einem Neubaugebiet in Hamburg verwirklicht werden. Zukunftsweisend sollen neue Wege der Abwasserentsorgung in Verbindung mit regenerativer Energiegewinnung aufgezeigt werden. Der Verbund wird von der Bauhaus-Universität-Weimar (BUW) und der Hamburger Stadtentwässerung (HSE) koordiniert. Die Gruppe Biokonversion und Emissionsminderung (BIEM) des Instituts für Abwasserwirtschaft und Gewässerschutz befasst sich mit der energetischen und stofflichen Nutzung des Schwarzwassers einschließlich der Inventur regional verfügbarer Co-Substrate.

In order to reduce animal feed imports and to produce in particular protein feed locally, pond systems with floating plants (duckweed and Azolla) are being investigated regarding their productivity and nutrient uptake. Research is being done two integrated livestock systems, one pond system with ducks for the prduction of eggs and one aquaponics system inside a polytunnel for the production of vegetables and fish.

The North Sea region is an area of intensive farming characterised by rapid soil degradation. Therefore, the demand for soilimprovers such as quality composts for these intensively utilised soils exist. Barriers to meet this urgent need of soil improvement are a lack of suitable and stabilized soil amendments, the absence of an alignment in demands and risks in European and national regulations, and a lack of information. The project involves researchers, compost and horticultural producers and regional authorities from five North Sea Region countries—Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, and United Kingdom—to study local, regional, and trans-European needs and barriers. SOILCOM aims to improve the transformation of waste to quality compost, and its application to support carbon storage, water and nutrient use efficiency, productivity of horticultural and compost enterprises, and pesticide reduction. Furthermore it aims to support EU policy on circular economy.