Project Title: AshCycle: Integration of Underutilized Ashes into Material Cycles by Industry-Urban Symbiosis

Project Budget: €10,311,010.00

Project Implementation Period: June 1, 2022 – May 30, 2026

Funding Source: Horizon Europe

Ashes from the incineration of municipal solid waste, biomass and sewage sludge are currently underutilized and a part of them ends up in landfills. Approximately 25 million tons of these ashes are produced annually. 

The main problems associated with the use of ash generated from the incineration of municipal solid waste, biomass and sewage sludge are insufficient public awareness of the safety and environmental sustainability of the final products, the lack of unified regulations, and the market's readiness to accept waste as a new secondary material. The AshCycle project aims to develop, apply, demonstrate, and replicate various developed solutions through regional industrial-urban symbiosis of waste material utilization. Demonstrations and replications will be carried out in Denmark, Finland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Croatia, Slovenia, Switzerland, and South Africa. To develop industrial-urban symbiosis, the project includes all key stakeholders from the value chain to foster synergy, partnerships, and new business opportunities. The AshCycle project addresses challenging socio-economic demands, facilitates the market entry of new ash-based products, and contributes to raising public awareness and acceptance of the importance of using secondary resources.

Project coordinator: 

University of Oulu

Project partners: 

Technical University of Delft (TUDelft)
University of Zagreb Faculty of Civil Engineering (UNIZG)
Ghent University (UGent)
Zavod za gradbenistvo Slovenije (ZAG)
Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
BioSO4 Oy (BioSO4)
Oulun Energia (OEnerg)
Oulun jätehuolto Oy (Kierto)
AI4Value Oy (A4V)
Beton Lučko (BL)
GTF-Initiative for Sustainable Growth (GTF)
DOK-ING ENERGO (DOK)
Kleener Power Solutions Oy (Kleener)
ResourceFull (RSF)
SECO Belgium (SECO)
Orbix Solutions (Orbix)
University of Johannesburg (UJ)
Veolia nv-sa (Veolia)
CWare APS (CWare)
NEXE ltd. (NEXE)
Sustainable Living (NH)
A/S IKAST BETONVAREFABRIK
Mineralz B.V (MRZ)
Haitsma Beton B.V (Haitsma)
Danske Tegl (DT)
ARC I/S Amager Ressourcecenter (ARC)
ETH Zürich (ETH)

More about the project: https://www.ashcycle.eu/en/