The central objective for Eco-UV is the demonstration and characterisation of an innovative UV lamp and driving electronics technology for chemical-free water treatment and disinfection. The newly implemented technology is a ground-breaking innovation providing up to four times increased lifetime with greatly increased efficiency, the energy consumption reduced by 80%. Thus, this technology provides a lower carbon footprint, much improved energy use and hence greatly reduced lifetime costs. Additionally, the innovative technology will be introduced with a mercury-free configuration, removing the need to handle with this hazardous substance in manufacture and disposal, hence providing a sustainable and eco-innovative technology. The project will prove the lamp technology by demonstration in real applications with full characterisation in terms of long-term stability, ageing effects and dose-response-relationship. Furthermore, the UV lamps are integrated in reactors and the performance of the whole UV system is evaluated at a test centre for drinking water. A new testing protocol for different end-users applications will furthermore be derived, which will be the basis for a future standardised validation of industrial UV applications. The technology will be installed at three demonstration sites for an extended running period. At each, the treatment performance of the UV systems will be evaluated according to the inactivation of micro organisms and the reduction of application specific chemicals, e. g. antibiotics and pesticides. A full Life Cycle evaluation of cost and environmental benefits will be disseminated via EU ETV forums to ensure active uptake of the technology offering by comparing it to traditional UV technology in terms of energy, infrastructure and lifetime costs. The proposed UV technology is addressing the thematic priority areas as outlined in the EIP on Water, especially water reuse, water treatment, water governance and the water-energy nexus.

The Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability (CSS) has been adopted, which aims to tackle the challenge of producing and using chemicals to address societal needs while respecting the planetary boundaries and safeguarding people and ecosystems, by dealing with pollution from all sources (EC, 2019 or COM(2019)640final, COM(2020)667 final, JRC report). This CSS challenge gets operationalised through the development/implementation of two key R&I actions: 1) the Strategic Research and Innovation Plan (SRIP), and 2) the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework. Consistent with the aims of the Call HORIZON-CL4-2023-RESILIENCE-01-21 and bearing in the mind the pressing need to develop new methods or improve current ones, to support the improvement of safety and sustainability assessments of chemicals, the project “IMPLEMENTING INNOVATIVE METHODS FOR SAFETY AND SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENTS OF CHEMICALS AND MATERIALS PARTICULARLY AT NANO LEVEL IN THE EUROPEAN UNION (CheMatSustain)” will not only study the quantum effects from a fundamental point-of-view (by DFT means) but also by identifying and measuring them through experimental techniques (high-resolution analysis, XPS and UPS), and determining the specific molecular recognition through their interaction with the environment, which is a quantum mechanical effect (in-vitro, microfluidic in-vitro, and in-vivo models and proteomics and transcriptomics and methods). The obtained information on these descriptors will then be integrated for the development of novel in silico models for prediction (eco)toxicity properties of advanced materials. Finally, in-silico model prediction results will be combined to develop a new methodology for the complementary use of Risk Assessment and LCA to improve criteria for the SSbD implementation framework. The work has been divided in eight work packages and the duration of the project is 48 months.