The opening meeting of the Project “ZERO BRINE - Re-designing the value and supply chain of water and minerals: a circular economy approach for the recovery of resources from saline impaired effluent (brine) generated by process industries”, which is qualified for funding by the EU Horizon2020 Program, with the partnership of the Environment and Cleaner Production Institute of TÜBİTAK Marmara Research Center, was held on 19 June 2017 in Delft University of Technology in Netherlands.
The project will be conducted by 22 partners in 4 years. It aims to achieve the recovery of valuable substances, through various technologies, from concentrated saline effluents generated by membrane filtration. The management of concentrated articles has come to the fore all over the world in parallel with the development of membrane technologies; and the number of studies in this field has recently increased.
As part of the project that is coordinated by Delft University of Technology and partnered by the Environment and Cleaner Production Institute of TÜBITAK Marmara Research Center, 4 pilot plants will be established and one of them will be established in Turkey by the Environment and Cleaner Production Institute. The project will be realized by the Water and Wastewater Management Unit and Cleaner Production Strategic Business Unit of the Environment and Cleaner Production Institute. These Units will explore the re-usability of the concentrated membrane effluents of textile wastewaters, and conduct studies for saline recovery and elimination of impurities. Some project partners will work on the disposal of the concentrate and product development from the concentrate; and some partners will explore the effects of the said discharges on ecosystem and environment.
The Environment and Cleaner Production Institute was represented in the opening meeting by Assoc. Prof. Ahmet BABAN, Dr. Selda MURATHOCAOĞLU and Recep PARTAL. The project manager Assoc. Prof. Ahmet BABAN briefed the other partners on TÜBİTAK Marmara Research Center and its Environment and Cleaner Production Institute and informed them on the work packages undertaken.