Maria Ascensão Reis, leader of the Biochemical Engineering Lab, Nídia Lourenço, Filomena Freitas and Mariana Matos, researchers from the same lab at UCIBIO - FCT NOVA, integrate the consortium of the project UPSTREAM - Circular and Bio-Based Solutions for the Ultimate Prevention of Plastics in Rivers Integrated with Elimination And Monitoring Technologies, that has received 10 million euros funding, under the call HORIZON-MISS-2022-OCEAN-01-04.
UPSTREAM addresses the targets of the Mission by overcoming challenges related to the monitoring, prevention, elimination, and valorisation of litter (L), plastics (P), and microplastics (MP). Demonstrating a suite of 14 solutions addressing pollution at every step in the water system, connected to 7 rivers in 5 countries, will enable the co-creation of an extensive database of knowledge and sustainable business models with a focus on making information as widely accessible as possible. The involvement of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) owners, industrial partners with existing supply chains, innovative SMEs, and a water cluster association will ensure exploitation of the project solutions, while €500k in cascade funding will enhance replication across Europe. The UPSTREAM consortium will thus establish circular value chains with the potential to decrease plastic litter by 50% and microplastics pollution by 30%.
About the project UPSTREAM
Project number: 101112877
Call: HORIZON-MISS-2022-OCEAN-01-04 (Horizon Europe)
Total Funding: 9 992 658.75€
UCIBIO unit funding: 698 118.75€
Project starting date: 2023 with a duration of 48 months