From 04th to 6th June 2025, the CORNERSTONE Consortium convened for an intensive and forward-looking meeting that brought together academic and industry partners across three locations.
The event began in Darmstadt, hosted at the Georg-Christoph-Lichtenberg-Haus, a historic conference venue nestled on the edge of the forest. Originally built as a hotel and later converted into a city palace and noble residence (Haus Hagenburg), the building now serves as a guest house of the Technical University of Darmstadt.
The first day focused on Work Packages 1 through 5. Topics included the design of innovative technology-trains for optimized process integration at the laboratory scale (WP1), the digitalization and smart monitoring of industrial processes (WP2), and the demonstration of these concepts in industrial or simulated environments using digital twin approaches (WP3). Additional sessions addressed sustainability and circularity assessments (WP4), as well as the development of decision-support tools for integrated water, energy, and solute management in industrial settings (WP5).
During the Consortium Meeting in Darmstadt in the Georg Lichtenberg Haus
In the labs of TU Darmstadt
A particular highlight was the tour of TU Darmstadt’s newly established laboratory facilities. Within CORNERSTONE, TU Darmstadt aims at recovering energy from the organic load in wastewater from the chemical industry. Anaerobic treatment processes are being used to produce biogas, and the goal is to design a system that is highly resilient to inhibitory substances while maximizing methane yield—an essential step toward sustainable wastewater treatment in industrial contexts.
The evening concluded with a shared dinner at the traditional Darmstädter Brauhaus, offering regional cuisine.
The second day of the meeting shifted focus to overarching project themes, with presentations on WP6 (Dissemination, Communication and Exploitation) and WP7 (Project Governance and Management). The consortium then traveled to Wiesbaden for a guided tour of the production facilities of Mann+Hummel. As a key industry partner in CORNERSTONE, the company is developing membrane-based pretreatment technologies to safeguard the filtration modules created in Work Packages 1 and 3.
Later that evening, the group continued on to Leverkusen in preparation to visit to Covestro. Covestro’s case study within the CORNERSTONE project focuses on the anaerobic treatment of complex liquid waste streams from chemical production – aiming to replace energy-intensive disposal routes like incineration or aerobic oxidation. Together with Technische Universität Darmstadt and BIOTHANE Anaerobic & Biogas Upgrading Technologies, lab- and pilot-scale studies are being conducted, based on comprehensive wastewater and energy flow mapping.
A key aspect of the case study is the transition from conventional, fossil-based aniline to biobased aniline – a renewable feedstock derived from sources like sugar, with a significantly lower carbon footprint. Aniline is an essential building block in many industrial products, including plastics (Polyurethane), insulating material, dyes, pharmaceuticals, and rubber. However, this transition from conventional production to bio-based processes also introduces new challenges for wastewater treatment, which are addressed within CORNERSTONE.
The consortium extends its sincere thanks to TU Darmstadt, Mann+Hummel, and Covestro for their hospitality, excellent organization, and active support.
