20FIFTY Partners, Ireland

 

What are your main tasks in the project?

20FIFTY Partners are leading Work Package 5 of CORNERSTONE. This work package focuses on the development of a decision support toolbox for deployment of circular process technologies within industrial water processes. This work package and its associated deliverables will support the project’s ambition to deliver replicability, scalability and impact of the identified CORNERSTONE solutions beyond the project scope.

We are also heavily involved in Work Package 6 and will lead a task to develop sector specific exploitation roadmaps for sustainable and efficient water use in the Paper, Steel and Chemical sectors, delivering a glidepath for businesses to become more resilient.

What are your goals?

As water demand continues to grow, water scarcity issues are impacting businesses’ operations and supply chains. Coupled with this reality, is the growing pressure on businesses to respond to the climate emergency and demonstrate the action they’re taking to reduce their environmental impact.

We will utilise our experience as a leading organisation in the global water stewardship movement to deliver an adoption toolbox for industry to facilitate the mainstreaming deployment of circular industrial water process technologies across Europe.

Our main goal is to unlock the potential for water circularity in the industrial sector. We will develop a toolbox that is practical and accessible for industry, enabling organisations across high-impact sectors to respond to shared water-related challenges with appropriate catchment, site and process-level solutions. Successful implementation will result in a reduction in freshwater utilisation, an increase in wastewater reuse and valorisation of existing waste streams into valuable products for industry.

What is your motivation and what excites you the most about your work?

We are problem solvers facing a complex task in supporting industry to become both circular and climate resilient. To support this project’s objective in advancing the European Union’s green and digital transition towards climate neutrality in Europe, we have a unique opportunity with CORNERSTONE to work with colleagues from across the continent in identifying, trialling and rolling out cutting-edge water circularity solutions with leading industrial organisations. We are motivated to use our skills, knowledge and experience to play our part in addressing water challenges using novel innovations to ensure a sustainable future for our planet.

Which impact do you think your research/work will have on the future?

According to the UN, Industrial water use globally is expected to grow dramatically by 2050 with a 400% growth rate predicted across global manufacturing sites alone. This is unsustainable. Delivering this highly impactful research will provide significant environmental and societal benefits​ by supporting sustainable transformation within and across industry. This is exactly the type of impact 20FIFTY Partners want to make as we build on our expertise in leading water research in the industrial sector. Working in collaboration with over 450 large water users through Water Stewardship Ireland and UK, we will harness our growing industry network to ensure the outputs of CORNERSTONE are both disseminated and exploitated across industry.