Specific Objectives

Analyse & Evaluate

– Avoid APIs release in the wastewater sewage system.
– Convert and detoxify 5,220 g APIs per year from Medochemie’s 13 manufacturing facilities. Based on the study regarding antibiotics that Medochemie already carried out, 1 g of APIs is released daily in wastewater from each facility.

Transferability & Capacity building

– Apply the system to pharmaceutical industries across Europe. The EU has 4000 pharmaceutical enterprises (Eurostat). If the system is adopted throughout the EU, 1,606 kg of APIs would be converted to non-toxic compounds before being discharged in the wastewater sewage system per year.
– Train pharmaceutical facility industrial operators on the use of the PHARMA-DETOX technology (target: > 4 training sessions).
– Present the method and the progress of the project in international conferences.

Circular economy & environmental benefits

– Recycle and reuse water that would otherwise have been discarded in the wastewater sewage system. The produced recycled water can be used in non-critical applications, such as in the heat exchanging equipment (chillers/boilers), cleaning procedures and irrigation.
– Save 10 m3 of potable water daily. In its place the same quantity of recycled water will be used. 3,650 m3 of potable water will be saved per year.
– Minimize the environmental footprint of the system using 100% renewable energy sources. Excess hydrogen will be produced and used as energy source during night hours. Demand Response will also play a role by shifting the electricity usage during peak hours.

Develop & demonstrate

– Demonstrate an innovative, cost effective, low energy consumption industrial system for the treatment of wastewater effluent containing traces of APIs that will be detoxified before entering the wastewater sewage system.
– Develop a new, innovative method for the treatment and detoxification of pharmaceutical compounds with the aim of commercialization and implementation in other pharmaceutical companies across Europe.