IWA’s Resource Recovery from Water Cluster is now calling for nominations for the Resource Recovery Best Practice Award 2023.

Driven by environmental, economic, societal and ecological benefits, resource recovery from water treatment has drawn attention worldwide. Recovering resources from water and wastewater can provide an alternative and economically viable source of resources supporting the resilience of human and natural systems under water stress. Resources from the water cycle can be water itself, energy (organic or thermal) and components such as nutrients and metals. 

In partnership with Allied Waters and AquaMinerals, the IWA Resource Recovery Cluster seeks to recognise best practices in resource recovery applied at full or demonstrative scale in the water cycle, which can serve as an exemplary solutions that can be applied more widely.

The IWA Resource Recovery Cluster Best Practice Award will be presented during the 5th IWA International Resource Recovery Conference in Shenzhen, China, on 1-4 November 2023. The winner will receive a trophy and certificate honouring their best practice and will be invited to present this during the conference.

An international evaluation committee will review and evaluate the submissions: 

• Willy Verstraete, Gent University, Belgium 
• Korneel Rabeay, Ghent University, Belgium  
• Ana Soares, Cranfield University, UK 
• Olaf van der Kolk, Aquaminerals, the Netherlands 
• Heather Kerr, Isle Utilities, UK 
• Kees Roest, KWR and TKI Water Technology, the Netherlands 

The following criteria will be used to select the best practice in resource recovery from water: 

• Innovative character of the best practice in resource recovery 
• Replication potential 
• Positive environmental impact 
• Active cooperation with all stakeholders within the value chain of the recovered resource 
• Positive business case 

Previous winners 

2019: HighCon, RR from concentrates (TU Berlin and partners, Germany) 

2017: Anyang wastewater plant, RR of water and energy (POSCO Engineering and partners, South Korea) 

2015: Upcycling lime pellets from drinking water plants (Reststoffenunie/AquaMinerals and partners, the Netherlands) 

Submission information

To submit your nomination, please complete the nomination application form before 20 October 2023 through the online form: www.surveymonkey.com/r/IWARRC2023  

Complete all fields in the online application and upload all required documents, including a video recording of max. 2 minutes.  Incomplete entries will not be considered. Self-nominations are encouraged and welcomed.

For all enquiries, please contact rachna.sarkari@iwahq.org