An essential event for all biosolids and bioresources professionals, providing an overview of the latest innovations, best practice, cutting-edge technologies and research in the field.
The 2026 programme is LIVE!
This year's conference programme features over 70 expert speakers who will share their operational experience and practical solutions for the challenges facing the bioresources sector. We look forward to welcoming over 350 industry professionals to enjoy wide variety of technical sessions, panel discussions, keynote speakers, a site visit and plenty of networking!
If you would like to display a poster, we are still accepting abstracts. Please submit here.
2026 Programme
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Dr Maxine Mayhew
CEO, Coriant Group
From Waste to Worth – why our sector matters more than ever
Tuesday 17th November I 9:30am
Biosolids and bioresources are no longer simply by-products to be managed. They are strategic assets at the heart of the circular economy, supporting public health, environmental protection, food security, renewable energy generation and resource recovery.
In this inspiring keynote, Dr Maxine Mayhew, CEO of Coriant Group, will explore how the sector is evolving from waste management to value creation, and why the work undertaken across the industry has never been more important. Looking beyond technology and regulation, the session will focus on the people, innovation and leadership needed to unlock the full potential of biosolids and bioresources in the decades ahead.
She hopes to share with attendees her pride and optimism about the industry's role in creating a more sustainable and resilient future and the opportunities this means for all who work in it.
Site Visit - Severn Trent's Net Zero Hub at Strongford - the world's first net zero wastewater treatment plant!
Delegates will get a first-hand look at the treatments being deployed to transform bioresources treatment and actively monitor and reduce emissions.
Pre-booking essential - registration available soon.
Meet & Greet
Join us for complimentary welcome drinks from 7pm - 8pm in the Ludlow Concourse.
This is a great opportunity to network with other attendees before the event, catch up with colleagues and meet the Aqua Enviro team.
- Advanced Thermal Conversion
- Advancing AD & Biosolids
- Interactive Discussion
- Landbank Challenges and Opportunities
- Mitigating Methane, NMVOC & IED
- Panel Discussion: Lime, AD & IED – An Uncomfortable Truth?
- Panel Discussion: OFWAT-Funded ATC Project Updates
- Resource Recovery & Circular Economy
| ePyroPlus: electrified high temperature pyrolysis of sewage sludge to syngas and biochar | Abdullah Malik and Azreen Hasnain, Hybrid Gasification Ltd, UK Pete Vale and Aderlanio Cardoso, Severn Trent, UK Arsalan Ashraf, AtkinsRéalis, UK Shahid Naveed, Global Energy and Engineering, Pakistan Tony Roskilly, Durham University, UK |
| Energy and mass balance of different process flow scenarios incorporating pyrolysis | Philip Pedros, Woodard & Curran, USA Tannon Daugaard, Mott MacDonald, USA |
| Planning the implementation of a sewage sludge pyrolysis demonstration plant at Crossness STW. | Peter Winter, Thames Water, UK Ebrahim Honar, AquaGreen, Denmark Farhad Beik, Thames Water, UK Andre Le Roux, Stantec, UK James Litherland, Thames Water, UK Stuart Wagland, Cranfield University, UK |
| Hydrothermal oxidation (HTO) of sewage sludge digestate: treatability of HTO aqueous phase and pathways for valorisation | Nasreen Nasar, Bruce Jefferson, Ewan McAdam, Yadira Bajón Fernandez, Celeste Gritti, Stephen Stewart and Polly Grundy, Cranfield University, UK David Inman, Anglian Water, UK Ben Luqmani and Stephen Riches, AtkinsRéalis, UK Danial Gapes and Rob Lei, Cetogenix, New Zealand |
| AI-driven optimisation of anaerobic digestion: enhancing efficiency, feedstock strategy, and system integration | Alan Beesley, Benaissa Dekhici and Rohit Murali, BiofuelAi, UK Michael Short and Ruosi Zhang, University of Surrey, UK |
| How hard can we push existing assets? 15 years redefining the limits of sewage sludge anaerobic digestion | Yadira Bajón Fernandez, Cranfield University, UK |
| Mechanical cell lysis of WAS to optimise anaerobic digestion | Grace Doody, Ashley Bickerton and Norman Dodzo, United Utilities, UK Michael Falterer, Hillers, Germany |
| Overcoming the hydrolysis blind spot in advanced anaerobic digesters with biological pre-treatment | Nasreen Nasar, Cranfield University, UK Giulia Pizzagalli, Anglian Water Services, UK Frederic Coulon and Yadira Bajón Fernandez, Cranfield University, UK |
| Full-scale implementation of the microbial hydrolysis process (MHP) technology | David Parry, Jacobs, USA Per Henrik Nielsen, VandCenterSyd (VCS), Denmark Cristhian Gonzalez, Jacobs, UK Maddy Fairley-Wax, Jacobs, USA |
| Towards high-rate biosolids digestion: full-scale perspectives on the IntensiCarb™ process | Domenico Santoro and Christopher Sheculski, USP Technologies, USA Farouk Kakar and Kati Bell, Hazen & Sawyer, USA Chris Muller and Ahmed Al-Omari, Brown & Caldwell, USA |
| Large scale post digestion thermal hydrolysis (or HTC) process to achieve optimum dewatering and biogas production at the Schijnpoort centralized sludge treatment facility in Antwerp, Belgium | Flinn De Vleeschauwer, Aquafin, Belgium Davy Ringoot, Anne-Linne Bakke, Anne-Helene Sandsmark and Jochen Backx, Cambi, Norway |
| Optimising sludge digestion for a sustainable future | Russell Mulliner, AD Ingenuity, UK |
| Closing the dewatering control loop: real-time centrate solids monitoring as an enabler for process optimisation | Mike Strahand, Aquamonitrix, UK Ewout Riteco, SoliSenz, Netherlands |
| In-silico investigation of pretreatment inhibitors on selected methanogenic enzymes found in anaerobic digestion a molecular level evidence. | Samuel Nketia Boateng, Emmanuel Cobbinah, Gertrude Oboh, Samuel Obiri-Asiamah and Isaac Mbir Bryant, University of Cape Coast, Ghana |
| Evaluating digester resilience under increasing organic loading | Nnenna Chukwuekezie, Stuart Wagland and Yadira Bajón Fernandez, Cranfield University, UK |
| Eliminating reactor feed and pulper mixing pumps in thermal hydrolysis: design and operational experience from the B8 platform | Andreas Lilleboe and Hans Rasmus Holte, Cambi AS, Norway |
| In space, no-one can hear you innovate | David Tompkins, WSP, UK Jon Brigg, Stoic Options |
| National collaborative United States project evaluating indirect exposure to PFAS from land application of biosolids | Ian Pepper, S.M. Prasek and M.L. Brusseau, University of Arizona, USA |
| Novel quantification of economic risks to UK ecosystem services from the agricultural use of contaminated biosolids | Natasha Kitching and Joanna Cloy, Fidra, UK Allegra Naldini, Thea Sletten and Nil Torrebadella, eftec, UK |
| UKWIR CIP4 sludge investigation - key insights upon project completion | Andrew McLeod and Stephen Riches, AtkinsRéalis, UK |
| Achieving IED TVOC limits in AMP8 | Ross Byron, United Utilities, UK Lydia Chin, Stantec, UK Anthony Freeman, Paul Kynaston and Pat Horne, United Utilities, UK |
| Towards sustainable sludge treatment: managing methane emissions from anaerobic digestion | Yadira Bajón Fernandez, Cranfield University, UK Chris Bateman and Charalampos Michalakakis, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, DESNZ, UK |
| Practical implementation of the IED in Yorkshire Water | Tom Batman and Jed Hesling, Mott MacDonald Bentley, UK Ed Sutherland, Yorkshire Water, UK |
| Measurement of diffuse emissions: a comparison of different methods | Edoardo Piano, Mott MacDonald, UK Matt Nicolls, Arcadis, UK Sophie Bretagne and Paul Fountain, Thames Water, UK |
| Results from a multi-method CH4 monitoring campaign | Amanda Lake and Emma Shen, Jacobs, UK Jeff Carmichael, Metro Vancouver, Canada Chris Leonard, QLM, UK Faizal Damji, Montrose Environmental, USA Ke Duke and Mostafa Mehrdad, University of Calgary, Canada Conner Daube, Aerodyne, USA |
| Beyond the flare: quantifying fugitive methane at full-scale WRRFs in Canada | Farokh Laqa Kakar, Hazen and Sawyer, Canada Kati Bell and Amy Hanna, Hazen and Sawyer, USA Elsayed Elbeshbishy, Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada |
| Finding the leaks we didn't know we had | Nathan Wong, Severn Trent, UK |
| Flash aeration trials: what worked, what didn't, and what's next. | Ellie Singh, Severn Trent Water, UK |
| 10 years operational experience with ELOVAC – P: reduction of green house gases and phosphate management | Kevin Sheeran, Eliquo Hydrok, UK Julia B. Kopp, KBKopp, Lengede, Germany Sebastian Siemen, Wastewater Treatment Plant Lingen WwTW, Germany |
| Let the market decide: Australia's adaptive pathways for resource recovery | Peter Talboys and Sarah-Jane Westlake, AtkinsRéalis, UK Jason Mingo and Sarah Martin, Water Services Association of Australia, Australia Matt Stewart and Robert Naylor, AtkinsRéalis, Australia |
| From sludge to resource: scaling the future of biopolymer recovery | Francesca McKendrick and Amy Wilson, United Utilities, UK |
| Recovering ammonia from sludge digestion liquors using membrane contactors | Ricardo Reyes Alva, Marius Mohr, Susanne Zibek and Günter Tovar, Fraunhofer IGB, Germany |
- Bigger Picture Thinking
- Landbank Challenges and Opportunities
- Mitigating Methane, NMVOC & IED
- Panel Discussion: AMR in Biosolids
- Resource Recovery & Circular Economy
| Name | Authors |
|---|---|
| Investigating the fate of PFAS in sewage sludge treatment processes | Ayse Humeyra TATAR, Thomas Curtis, Lucia Rodriguez Ferreira and Anh Phan, Newcastle University, UK |
| Can't bury it forever – PFAS pathways from landfill leachate to biosolids and treatment implications | Katie Walker and Andy Thornton, Jacobs, UK |
| From paper to pilot: the challenges of scaling a biosolids pilot trial to transform the sludge drying process | Ewan Spence, Amanda Lake, Ben Raistrick, Sam Wilson and Matt Pickersgill, Jacobs, UK |
| Biosolids planning for an uncertain future - how regulatory drivers and technology are influencing long term infrastructure decisions | Eric Auerbach, Arcadis, UK |
| PFAS abatement and destruction in water treatment | David Reay, Puragen, UK |
| Name | Authors |
|---|---|
| PhD research findings | Steve Bungay, Haskoning, UK |
| Pilot-scale demonstration of the DePrex vacuum degassing system for maximizing residual methane extraction. Mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from municipal sewage sludge biogas plant | Bernhard Ortwein, CNP CYCLES GmbH, Germany Jophin Thattil, Thomas Klamp, Bernhard Ortwein, Markus Gerlach, CNP CYCLES GmbH, Germany Robert Mannion, Evergreen Water Solution Ltd, UK |
| From odour control to emissions compliance: practical strategies for meeting IED requirements at biosolids facilities | Richard Hanson, ERG (Air Pollution Control), UK |
| Suppressing methane emissions from sewage sludge digestate. | Muna Ibrahim Hassan, Monica Rivas Casado and Yadira Bajón Fernandez, Cranfield University, UK |
| Energy-positive methane recovery from post-digested sludge: lessons from live trials at Thames Water and Anglian Water | Nestor Rueda Vallejo and Eliana Bohórquez Bedoya, Bluemethane, UK Paul Fountain, Thames Water, UK Matt Cotterill, Anglian Water, UK |
| Tackling digestate emissions: Bluemethane trial outcomes & carbon assessment | Ben Luqmani, Lucy Oram and Garry Strange. AtkinsRéalis, UK Eliana Bohórquez Bedoya and Nestor Rueda-Vallejo, Bluemethane, UK |
| Name | Authors |
|---|---|
| Circular ammonia recovery for a low-carbon wastewater future | Guto Pari, Severn Trent, UK |
| Aqua2N®: reducing WWTP nitrogen loads and process emissions through resource recovery | Shaun Stevens and Alan Ford, EPS Water, UK Simon Warnquist, EasyMining, Sweden |
| Biosolids to biochar in Ireland: pathways for circular resource recovery | Aoife Kyne, Aoife Moloney, Michael Taylor and Aisling Buckley, Uisce Éireann, Ireland Lucy Oram, Ben Luqmani, Peter Talboys, Sarah-Jane Westlake and Stephen Riches, AtkinsRéalis, UK |
| Recovering phosphorus from digestate using alternative leaching agents: agronomic performance of struvite fertilizers and carbon sequestration potential of residues | Thaís Guedes Silveira and Çağrı Akyol, Ghent University, Belgium Nimisha Edayilam, Wageningen University & Research, Netherlands Erik Meers, Ghent University, Belgium |
| Demonstration of the bio-mineral process for phosphorus removal and recovery from wastewater centrates | Ana Soares and Joyeuse Iradukunda, Cranfield University, UK Jason Huber, Ali Dorri and Fatemeh Shirazi, Microvi Biotech Inc., USA |
| Hydrothermal oxidation: innovation in advanced thermal conversion and resource recovery | Daniel Gapes, Cetogenix, New Zealand Ben Luqmani and Stephen Riches, AtkinsRéalis, UK David Inman, Anglian Water, UK Bruce Jefferson, Cranfield University, UK |
| Smart co-digestion to optimise sludge & waste circular economy: feedback from full scale applications in Spain | Lynne Bouchy and Àngel Freixó, CREAtech360º, Spain Marcel Vilaplana, Cetaqua, Spain Matilde Santiago, Veolia, Spain Ignacio Casals, Aguas de Aliance and Mariano García, Aguas de Alicante, AMAEM, Spain Eva Mena, Aguas de Murcia and Alicia Gadea, Aguas de Murcia, EMUASA, Spain |
| Destruction and recovery across the hydrothermal continuum: translating advanced thermal conversion to the bioresources sector | Sandun Dissanayake and Stuart Wagland, Cranfield University, UK Ben Luqmani and Stephen Riches, AtkinsRéalis, UK |
| Light at the end of the pipe: the emerging role of photolytic reactors in the water-energy-nexus. | Paul Knowles, Hazen and Sawyer, USA |
| Sludge, heat, repeat: rethinking regulation for thermal treatment | Sarah-Jane Westlake and Erina Brown, AtkinsRéalis, UK |
"Really enjoyed it! It was a great conference and personally have a notebook filled with thoughts and ideas from all the brilliant talks.
Head of Bioresources, Severn Trent (2025)
2026 Conference Timings
Monday 16th November
- Site visit - TBC
- Meet and greet networking - Ludlow Concourse -19:00 - 20:00
Tuesday 17th November
- Registration - Ludlow Concourse - from 08:45
- Technical sessions - Ludlow Suite - 09:30 -17:25
- Drinks reception - Exhibition Hall (Hall 1) - 17:30 - 18:15
- Conference dinner - The Gallery at Telford IC - 19:30 - 23:00
Wednesday 18th November
- Technical sessions - Ludlow Suite - 09:00 - 15.15
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