To drive Europe's transition toward a more sustainable and resource-efficient economy, continuous innovation and strategic action are essential. In alignment with the EU Circular Economy Action Plan, the WiNE (Water in the Circular Economy) project explores how treated wastewater can become a valuable, untapped resource — transforming traditional water use practices into circular, efficient systems.
Building upon the groundwork laid by the Integrated Water Approach Project, WiNE focused on advancing best practices in water management at both industrial and urban levels. Central to this work was the development of the Water Circularity Index (IC) — a novel metric designed to assess both the quantity and quality of water used throughout the water cycle within installations and processes.
The Index was successfully applied to facilities in seven countries, covering 14 different installations across a range of industrial sectors and urban wastewater treatment plants.
To further explore the practical application of the Water Circularity Index, two new case studies were conducted in 2020: one at an urban wastewater treatment plant, and the other at a sugar beet processing facility.
While the application of the Circularity Index to installations proved successful, it became evident that many requirements were product-specific. This highlighted the need to consider circularity in product design and resource management, with a focus on sustainability and efficient resource use throughout a product's lifecycle. Key components of water circularity include water efficiency, water reuse, recovery of valuable materials, and cross-sectoral synergies.
Between 2022 and 2024, the WiNE project focused on applying the concept of circularity to products, with particular attention to three main categories:
- Seasonal and/or regional products, which are of significant importance to local communities, including those in the EU’s outermost regions
- Crop production
- Products originating from large industrial installations
The report on the Water Circularity Index (IC) Tool, The Good practices on Water Circularity Index and The report on circularity in product design are available under the "Project Outputs" menu on the right-hand side.
For the 2025–2027 cycle, the topic of water reuse will continue to be explored through the upcoming WRAP project.
Within Work Package 1 of WRAP, the project will evaluate how the circularity indices developed so far support the goals of EU water reuse regulation and help promote various reuse strategies, as outlined in the recast of the Urban Waste Water Directive (91/271/EEC). It will also examine how Regulation (EU) 2020/741 on water reuse is being applied in practice and identify effective risk assessment methods.
Two site visits to active water reuse projects are planned for 2025 and 2026. These visits will provide real-world insights and form the basis of a guidance document outlining lessons learned from implementation. The document will cover both the strengths and challenges of applying the regulation, with a focus on best practices for industrial water reuse in IED and non-IED facilities.
Updated documents and project news will be shared on this page.