The recovery of biopolymers from wastewater and sludge provides water companies with the opportunity to supply fully sustainable raw materials to produce high value products, realising several routes to circular economies. It also offers the opportunity to reduce reliance on fossil-fuel derived polymers, and improve downstream treatment efficiency and waste management, supporting the industry to achieve Net Zero by 2030. 

The Ofwat Innovation Project Biopolymers in the Circular Economy (BICE) is a collaboration between partners across the resource recovery supply chain, led by United Utilities, to test two innovative biopolymer recovery processes and assess their technical and commercial viability.

Haskoning's Kaumera extraction process recovers Kaumera gum from secondary sludge by extracting extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) through physiochemical processes. Cellvation's process extracts cellulose from crude wastewater and converts it to a glucose solution.

Trial data including biopolymer yields, composition and quality, and impacts to downstream treatment processes will be presented and discussed. This will position the next stage of the project which will assess any commercial, carbon and social value impacts of biopolymer recovery, and test the technical viability of various biopolymer applications, including as a bio stimulant in the agricultural industry, and for applications within the wastewater treatment process.