The distinction, presented during the IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition, recognizes the company's solution for valorizing sludge from water treatment, turning it into raw material for the ceramic tile industry.
The project, titled “From Sludge to Tiles: A Circular Economy Case in the Water Sector,” won the Performance Improvement and Operational Solutions category. This year's edition featured 320 entries from 65 countries, with 23 selected as finalists.
Annually, Águas do Douro e Paiva directs approximately 2,280 tons of sludge from the Lever Water Treatment Plant to the ceramic industry, where it is used to produce around 14 million tiles.
“"This Gold Award naturally makes us very proud. It recognizes a solution born from a concrete challenge in our activity that today allows us to transform water treatment sludge into raw material for ceramic tiles. It also highlights the value of bringing companies closer to academia and knowledge centers to turn good ideas into practical solutions. This award also belongs to our teams and partners who believed in this path and helped make it possible."
Bruno Coimbra, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Águas do Douro e Paiva, accepted the award in Glasgow. The project stems from collaborative research between Águas do Douro e Paiva, the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), and the Technological Center for Ceramics and Glass (CTCV).
The primary goal of the research was to find alternatives to landfilling the sludge generated during water treatment. Studies confirmed the feasibility of using this sludge as a raw material in ceramic production, enabling its complete valorization and bridging the gap between the water sector and the ceramic industry through the reuse of a treatment byproduct.
