POST-PURPLE Launches to Advance Zero-Waste Urban Biorefineries

New EU project kicks off in Madrid to transform urban waste into high-value bio-based products

Madrid, Spain – 22 January 2026

POST-PURPLE, a new Horizon Europe research and innovation project, officially launched with its Kick-Off Meeting held on 21–22 January 2026 at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (URJC) campus in Móstoles, Madrid. The two-day meeting brought together project partners from across Europe to align on objectives, technical work plans, and collaboration strategies aimed at accelerating sustainable urban waste management.

POST-PURPLE aims to transform urban wastewater and organic waste into valuable resources by developing innovative bio-based technologies that produce nutrients, proteins, and natural compounds. By reducing emissions and valorising wastewater and organic municipal waste, the project supports zero-waste and zero-pollution goals while significantly improving the sustainability of urban waste treatment systems.

Urban wastewater treatment plants and organic waste facilities are major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption across Europe. At the same time, large volumes of valuable organic material remain underutilised. POST-PURPLE addresses this challenge by introducing advanced circular solutions that convert waste streams into resources, helping cities reduce pollution while creating new value chains.

During the Kick-Off Meeting, partners presented their technical approaches, discussed pilot activities and upscaling, and defined next steps for implementation across the project’s demonstration sites.

“We are not just solving environmental problems – we are turning emissions and waste streams into valuable resources. Instead of destroying these gases, we want to use them to create high-value products.”

Daniel Puyol Santos, Project Coordinator from University Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid

Over the coming months, POST-PURPLE will begin developing and validating its integrated technology portfolio, aiming to demonstrate practical pathways toward cleaner, more circular urban biorefineries and a measurable reduction of diffuse emissions to air and water.

Funded by the European Union (Grant No. 101181162).

• Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (URJC), Spain
• Bioenergy and Sustainable Technologies GmbH (BEST), Austria
• Strane Innovation (STRANE), France
• Imperial College of Science Technology and Medi (ICL), United Kingdom
• Food4Sustainability – Associacao para a Inovaca (F4S), Portugal
• FCC Aqualia SA (Aqualia), Spain
• Water Europe (WE), Belgium
• Universidad de Valladolid (UVA), Spain
• Anonymi Etaireia Diacheirisis Aporrimmaton per Dytikis Makedonias (DIADYMA), Greece
• Tehnoloski Fakultet Novi Sad (FTNS), Serbia
• Asociacion de Investigacion de Materiales Plasticos y Conexas (AIMPLAS), Spain
• Cluster Viooikonomias kai Perivallontos Dytikis Makedonias (CLUBE), Greece
• University of Western Macedonia (UOWM), Greece
• Econward Tech, S.L. (ECW), Spain
• European Science Communication Institute (ESCI), Germany

Contact
Media enquiries: