Circular Water Use at the Port of Antwerp: The CHERISH2O Project

Chemical companies at the Port of Antwerp in Belgium are exploring innovative solutions to reduce their freshwater consumption. The CHERISH2O project, launched in September 2024, brings together major players, including Ashland, BASF, Bayer, Borealis, Envalior, Evonik, ExxonMobil, Ineos, Lanxess, 3M, Monument Chemical, and TotalEnergies, to investigate how industrial wastewater can be treated and reused for their operations. By switching to circular water use, these companies aim to secure long-term solutions for both their production needs and local drinking water supplies.

Innovation in Wastewater Reuse: For a Sustainable Solution

With the support of the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, one of Europe’s major logistics hubs, VITO, the Flemish Institute for Technological Research, and essenscia, the Belgian federation for the chemical and life sciences industries, the initiative will assess how much water companies require and how much wastewater is currently discharged. The project will then explore how this wastewater can be purified and reused as process water, helping to mitigate the risk of water shortages, especially during periods of drought.

The project will not only examine the technical aspects of wastewater purification but also investigate the possibility of turning substances in wastewater into valuable raw materials for other industrial processes. A pilot facility will be established to test these concepts in practice, offering a hands-on approach to creating decentralised, circular water networks. This will be the first time a port environment has assessed such large-scale wastewater reuse possibilities.

Advancing Circular Water Systems in Industry

With a project cost of approximately €730,000, funded in part by Blue Deal funds from the Flemish government, CHERISH2O is poised to have a lasting impact on the region’s water resilience. By 2040, Flanders aims to have companies fully recycling their water, with minimal reliance on drinking and groundwater, as part of its Climate Adaptation Plan.