Safe and clean processing technologies and products (Processes4Planet partnership) (RIA)

Expected Outcome:Energy Intensive industries will benefit from the following outcomes:

• Reduce the use of hazardous substances in production processes and materials that pose a risk for human- and environmental health and safety, and ensure the avoidance of their proliferation into products;
• Enable novel processing technologies and materials with reduced health, safety, and environmental impacts;
• Increased knowledge on the industrial emission releases when it comes to emerging and less known groups of hazardous pollutants not regulated at EU level;
• Reduce the occupational exposure risk and negative health impacts at work by empowering employees;
• Contribute to the clean air and potentially biodiversity objectives, through the outcomes above.

Scope:Whereas the release of pollutants by European industry has generally decreased during the last decade, and it is expected to continue to do so, industry still contributes significantly to the emission of many pollutants into the European environment. Pollution harms our health and our environment. In addition to affecting people’s health, pollution is one of the main reasons for the loss of biodiversity. Moreover, only emissions of historically important pollutants are reported by industry. Information on emerging and less known pollutants, especially those not regulated by the Industrial Emissions Directive, and related methods of monitoring is lacking. GHG emissions from industry are not included in the scope of this topic. Pollutant emissions to air, water and soil are considered.

Proposals under this topic should address all of the following:

• Demonstrate the reduction of the use of hazardous substances that pose a risk for human- and environmental health and safety and thereby also their proliferation into the products;
• Develop novel processing technologies leading to reduced health, safety and environmental impacts beyond CO2 emissions;
• Minimise adverse effects from the novel processes’ technologies on the function and durability of the materials, recyclability, the production cost as well as the associated risk;
• Where relevant, develop sampling and monitoring methods for emerging pollutants and less known groups of pollutants in stack emissions before entering the environment.

Proposals should include techno-economic and life-cycle assessment considerations of the overall process. They should consider involving all the relevant actors in a participatory approach for the reduction of risk and health issues at work.

Research should build on existing standards, or if relevant, contribute to standardisation, especially when addressing pollutants that lack robust monitoring methods. Where relevant, interoperability for data sharing should be addressed.

Proposals submitted under this topic should include a business case and exploitation strategy as outlined in the introduction to this Destination.

If selected for funding, projects are encouraged to build on, or seek collaboration, with existing projects and develop synergies with other relevant European, national, or regional initiatives and funding programmes. Where relevant, projects are encouraged to take advantage of European research infrastructures and services in the areas of analytical research infrastructures such as the ones in the ARIE network[1] or environment, health and food[2]. Projects are moreover encouraged to inform the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) of their work plan to foster coordination with on-going science-for-policy related activities in the European Commission.

International cooperation is encouraged.

This topic implements the co-programmed European partnership Processes4Planet.

[1] https://arie-eu.org/

[2] https://ri-portfolio.esfri.eu/