News & Events

In March 2024, the University of Brunel teamed up with alchemia-nova for a workshop exploring the exciting world of bio-based technologies, with a special focus on self-healing concrete and public acceptance. The event kicked off with alchemia-nova presenting the DEEP PURPLE project. They showcased various demonstration sites and explained how they extract valuable compounds like … Continue reading “Building a Better Future: Bio-Based workshop on Self-Healing Concrete”

On the 26th of June 2023, the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (URJC) organized a pre-conference workshop at the 6th International Water Association (IWA) ecoSTP 2023 Conference. The topic of the pre-conference workshop was “Urban Biorefineries for a Circular Bioeconomy“. This workshop served as a platform for multifaceted dialogue on the urban biorefinery concept, designed to … Continue reading “DEEP PURPLE hosts ECOSTEP PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP”

The innovative self-healing concrete derived from cellulose sourced from the DEEP PURPLE project’s demo sites is a significant advancement in sustainable construction materials. At the DEEP PURPLE demo sites, we annually convert 438,000 cubic meters of domestic wastewater and 164 tons of organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) into raw materials. These raw materials … Continue reading “Self-healing Concrete Insights”

Join us for an enlightening evening as DEEP PURPLE (EU-Horizon2020 project) hosts the exclusive screening of the thought-provoking documentary film, HOLY SHIT: CAN POOP SAVE THE WORLD? In the presence of the movie director Rubén Abruña. After the screening we will discuss the possibilities of waste utilization and showcase some extraordinary products from waste developed … Continue reading “DEEP PURPLE Film Screening: HOLY SHIT – CAN POOP SAVE THE WORLD?”

Dear Circular Economy Enthusiasts and Curious Wanderers, Welcome to our corner of the internet, where curiosity meets circularity! Whether you’re a seasoned Circular Economy enthusiast or someone who stumbled upon this page and wonders, “Why am I here?”—you’re in for a treat. We work diligently to engage with you and comprehend your perceptions regarding wastewater … Continue reading “Turning Waste into Wealth: Your Voice Shapes the Future of Recovering Resources from Urban Waste streams!”

  Standardisation is a voluntary cooperation among industry, consumers, public authorities and other interested parties for the development of technical specifications based on consensus. Incorporating standardisation into research and innovation processes brings important benefits: standards and the process for developing them disseminate research and innovation knowledge to industry, society, public administrations and facilitate market acceptance … Continue reading “The first DEEP PURPLE standardization results”

On June 28th, David Renfrew (Brunel University London) took the stage at the ecoSTP event in Girona, Spain, to present an insightful circularity assessment of our  DEEP PURPLE project. Titled “Utilising Sustainable Value Propositions to Understand the Value Creation of Circular Actions in Wastewater Systems,” this presentation sheds light on the remarkable work we have … Continue reading “BRUNEL presented the circularity assessment of DEEP PURPLE at the ecoSTP 2023”

  What is the significance of local fertilizer production and the results of the DEEP PURPLE project in Europe? There is a substantial reliance on imported inorganic fertilizers, as revealed by statistics provided by Fertilizer Europe. In 2021, Europe imported significant amounts of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potash, accounting for 32%, 65%, and 88% of their … Continue reading “Bio-fertilizer Insights”

Cristina González Buch, from DEEP PURPLE partner ITENE research center specialised in packaging, explains the process of treating the cellulose extracted from the wastewater in DEEP PURPLE, and preparing it for other project partners to take over from there. In the DEEP PURPLE project ITENE is defining  decontamination procedures for the cellulose recovered from wastewater … Continue reading “Video about CNFs and cellullose enzymatic hydrolisis by ITENE: on the way from cellulose to polymer”

The International Water Association World Water Congress and Exhibition (IWA WWCE) is the most significant water-related event worldwide and is held once in two years. In this edition, members from two of our partners participated and presented the progress and findings from their work on Deep Purple. Patricia Zamora, Aqualia, participated in the congress with … Continue reading “Deep Purple participates in the International Water Association World Water Congress and Exhibition (IWA WWCE) in Copenhagen, Denmark”

Please find here the 4th issue of the DEEP PURPLE Newsletter. To receive the bi-yearly update in your inbox please sign up for it here.

New sustainable routes to produced cosmetics from greenhouse gases “Beauty comes from the insight” is one of our claims in the Deep Purple project. The link between urban solid waste, deep purple bacteria and beauty? It is a very valuable natural compound, namely ectoine. Ectoine is used in the cosmetic industry and has been proven … Continue reading “ECTOINE insights”

In DEEP PURPLE wastewater is transformed into valuable raw material for the production of biofertilizers with the help of Purple Phototrophic Bacteria (PPB). Groupe Roullier investigates the efficiency and safety of PPB biomass as raw material for formulation of biofertilizers in pellets. The MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) has been created and heavy metal analysis has confirmed … Continue reading “Safe use of PPB biomass as fertilizer”

“Influence of operational conditions on the performance of biogas bioconversion into ectoines in pilot bubble column bioreactors” is the title of a recently published paper in Bioresource Technology within the DEEP PURPLE project. HIGHLIGHTS – Low biomass concentrations resulted in an increase in the ectoines yields. – The increase in Cu2+ and Mg2+ concentrations did … Continue reading “Publication about Influence of operational conditions on the performance of biogas bioconversion into ectoines”

Standardisation is a voluntary cooperation among industry, consumers, public authorities and other interested parties for the development of technical specifications based on consensus. The European Union has an active standardisation policy that promotes standardisation in support of Better Regulation and as a tool for European competitiveness. Voluntary, consensus-based standards play a major role in promoting … Continue reading “DEEP PURPLE starts drafting a standard on value-added products made from municipal waste”

The workshop organized by CEN and CENELEC defines novel processes on production and purification of added value products. The workshop will specify extraction and purification processes of two added value products, that will be included in two CWAs: – ectoine obtained from biogas – polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) biopolymers from wastewater Online kick-off meeting on 17th of … Continue reading “Workshop on ‘Extraction, production and purification of added value products from urban wastes’”

Patricia Zamora Bonachela from FCC Aqualia presented “a novel photo-biorefinery concept based on Purple Phototrophic Bacteria for Mixed Urban Bio-waste Treatment” at the IWA Leading Edge Conference on water and wastewater technologies in Reno (USA). The conference took place from 27th of March until 2nd of April 2022 and is known as the cutting-edge water … Continue reading “Deep Purple at the 17th IWA Leading Edge Conference on Water and Wastewater Technologies”

“Make the most out of waste” – that is our claim in the Deep Purple project. During the last months we have put attention to the topic of biomass and the enrichment with Purple Phototrophic Bacteria on our social media channels. Find a summary of the most significant content below: In the DEEP PURPLE project, … Continue reading “BIOMASS insights”

“Ectoine Production from Biogas in Waste Treatment Facilities: A Techno-Economic and Sensitivity Analysis” is the title of a recently published paper in the ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering within the DEEP PURPLE project. HIGHLIGHTS: This work constituted the first techno-economic study of the large-scale production of ectoine from biogas in waste treatment plants The utilization … Continue reading “Publication about Ectoine Production from Biogas in Waste Treatment Facilities”

“Circular Bioeconomy in the Urban Waste Management: the Role of the Public Administration” was the title of a bioworkshop that took place at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos on 14th of December 2021. It was also possible to attend the event online. The workshop provided an opportunity to discuss the current state of urban biorefinery models … Continue reading “Bioworkshop21 Report”

Dr. Daniel Puyol from University Rey Juan Carlos (Madrid) and Scientific Leader of DEEP PURPLE gave a speech at the 10th annual conference of inVIVO Planetary Health (1.12.-7.12.2021) about purple phototrophic bacteria for resource recovery from organic waste sources. Check out the video presentation (8min.) from Dr. Daniel Puyol and learn more about the power … Continue reading “VIDEO about the power of purple phototrophic bacteria”

Please find here the 4th issue of the DEEP PURPLE Newsletter. To receive the bi-yearly update in your inbox please sign up for it here.

14th December 2021 from 09:30 to 14:30 Universidad Rey Juan Carlos The urban biorefinery concept came up to promote the recovery of valuable resources contained in the urban waste to be used as a raw matter within the production system. Urban waste includes municipal solid waste, excess of biomass from pruning and gardening, and the … Continue reading “WORKSHOP – Circular Bioeconomy in the Urban Waste Management: Role of the public administration”

Madrid Aquaenergy is a national forum that proposes to prioritize efforts to link water and energy and whose conclusions will offer ideas to promote economic recovery, prioritizing efforts in those sectors that enable job creation and sustainable growth. The event brings together public administrations, mining, health, biotechnology, renewable energy, farming and water companies, NGOs and … Continue reading “Madrid Aquaenergy Forum 2021”

The 2021 edition of the European Biotech Week, a weeklong series of events celebrating biotechnology hosted by EuropaBio, took place from September 27 until October 03. Novamont participated in the event with a webseries aimed at valorizing the role of biotechnology: one episode was dedicated to illustrate DEEP PURPLE (project’s objective, Novamont activity, role of … Continue reading “Valorizing the role of biotechnology – European Biotech Week”

We are very happy to announce that the jury has selected DEEP PURPLE as the winner of the BBI JU Photo Competition in the category “People in bio-based industries”. It is a great achievement, as DEEP PURPLE competed with over 170 entries for the competition. Congratulations to Novamont for submitting this prize winning photo showing … Continue reading “DEEP PURPLE won the BBI JU Photo Competition”

The team from Universidad de Valladolid published a very interesting open access publication in the ELSEVIER Journal of Environmental Management on “Elucidating the key environmental parameters during the production of ectoines from biogas by mixed methanotrophic consortia”. Highlights: Methane bioconversion into ectoine by mixed methanotrophic consortia was validated. The highest ectoine accumulation occurred at the … Continue reading “New DEEP PURPLE Publication on environmental parameters during the production of ectoines”

Please find here the 3rd issue of the DEEP PURPLE Newsletter. To receive the bi-yearly update in your inbox please sign up for it here. Follow the link for the online-newsletter.

In February 2021 the third DEEP PURPLE publication “Up-scale challenges on biopolymer production from waste streams by Purple Phototrophic Bacteria mixed cultures: A critical review” was published in the Elsevier Journal “Bioresource Technology” Volume 327. The highlights are: The production of biopolymers by purple phototrophic bacteria is reviewed. Understanding the underlying metabolic mechanisms for process … Continue reading “A critical review on biopolymer production from waste streams”

Standardisation is a voluntary cooperation among industry, consumers, public authorities and other interested parties for the development of technical specifications based on consensus. The European Union has an active standardisation policy that promotes standardisation in support of Better Regulation and as a tool for European competitiveness. Voluntary, consensus-based standards play a major role in promoting … Continue reading “STANDARDISATION IN DEEP PURPLE PROJECT”

Raúl Muñoz Torre from the Universidad de Valladolid explains the DEEP PURPLE project and in detail the ectoine extraction for the European Researcher’s Night in November, 27th, 2020. The video is in Spanish, but automatic subtitles can be used for everyone to understand the very informative video.

Please find here the 2nd issue of the DEEP PURPLE Newsletter. To receive the bi-yearly update in your inbox please sign up for it here. Follow the link for the online-newsletter.

With the development of this process to decontaminate and saccharified cellulose it will be possible to use renewable sources from waste management and wastewater treatment for the biosynthesis and bioproduction of new biomaterials. Work is currently underway to improve the efficiency and maximize the performance of the proposed process on a pilot scale. The process … Continue reading “Project update: Cellulose recovered from sewage sludge”

Bioconversion of biogas into ectoine in high-mass transfer bioreactors The research carried out by UVA is validating the continuous ectoine production from biogas and biomilking process and is providing the best design configuration and new insights on the optimal operational conditions of it. Highlights from the conversion of biogas into ectoine  An effective halotolerant microbial … Continue reading “Bioconversion of biogas into ectoine”

In June the team of Universidad Rey Juan Carlos started their pilot scale photobiorefinery in Mostoles, Spain From left to right Sandra Chacón, Denise Ramírez, John Villamil, Elena Moreno and Daniel Puyol (URJC) standing in front of the pilot photobiorefinery at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Mostoles, Spain. Purple Phototrophic Bacteria (PPB) enriched biomass, with … Continue reading “Pilot scale photobiorefinery implemented”

📣 News, news, news … The first issue of the DEEP PURPLE Newsletter! Read more about our 2 publications on the use of #PPB for waste valorisation and see the pilot photobiorefinery in Mostoles. https://mailchi.mp/deed1dde7e0c/results-from-the-first-year-of-deep-purple?e=6ba9285d82

The Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (URJC) group has just published the open-access paper “Alkalinity, and Not the Oxidation State of the Organic Substrate, Is the Key Factor in Domestic Wastewater Treatment by Mixed Cultures of Purple Phototrophic Bacteria” with interesting results on  optimization of domestic wastewater treatment using PPB (Purple Phototrophic Bacteria) in the Special … Continue reading “Alkalinity, and Not the Oxidation State of the Organic Substrate, Is the Key Factor in Domestic Wastewater Treatment by Mixed Cultures of Purple Phototrophic Bacteria”

An interesting article in Spanish about the DEEP PURPLE project in the RETEMA Magazine Issue March/April 2020 on “Recovery of resources from biowaste and solar energy in photo-biorefineries” by Patricia Zamora, Víctor Monsalvo, Eugenio Marín, Raúl Muñoz, Alessandro Carmona, John Villamil, Juan Antonio Melero,Fernando Martínez, Frank Rogalla, Daniel Puyol. (Aqualia, Universidad de Valladolid and Universidad … Continue reading “DEEP PURPLE in RETEMA Magazine”

Luis D. Allegue, Daniel Puyol and Juan Antonio Melero Novel, from the Group of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, published “Novel approach for the treatment of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste: Coupling thermal hydrolysis with anaerobic digestion and photo-fermentation” in ELSEVIER, “Science of the Total Environment” with open access under … Continue reading “DEEP PURPLE publication in Elsevier”

Dr. Daniel Puyol, scientific manager of DEEP PURPLE explaining how the University of Rey Juan Carlos is collaborating with DEEP PURPLE’s lead partner AQUALIA to develop low environmental impact technologies in many ambitious projects like DEEP PURPLE (Spanish with English subtitles available).

The University Rey Juan Carlos offers a Research Assistant position for working under the frame of the European Project DEEP PURPLE (GA No.: 837998) with the following RESPONSIBILITIES: To operate and maintain a pilot-scale bio-refinery consisting on: A pair of 0.5 m3 photo-bioreactors, where purple phototrophic bacteria will evolve Pumping units for inlet, outlet and … Continue reading “Work for DEEP PURPLE at URJC, Spain”

SPANISH ONLY/ INVITATION ONLY/CANCELLED for now El proyecto DEEP PURPLE (2019-2023), financiado por el programa europeo Horizonte 2020, tiene como objetivo desarrollar y validar un modelo de biorrefinería que sea capaz de aprovechar los flujos de residuos urbanos orgánicos para extraer y recuperar compuestos de alto valor añadido (ectoína, PHA o celulosa), utilizados en aplicaciones … Continue reading “Bio-based workshop DEEP PURPLE in Valencia (in Spanish)”

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Ernesto Horikoshi, Global Head of Active Ingredients, Business Segment Active Ingredients of Clariant Production France joined the DEEP PURPLE Advisory Board. Ernesto Horikoshi has over 15 years of experience in the Global Specialties Chemical Industry. He started his career in Clariant as R&D manager in Brazil working on the global development of Home and Personal … Continue reading “Ernesto Horikoshi joins the DEEP PURPLE Advisory Board”

AQUALIA and ACTIVATEC presented DEEP PURPLE at the BBI JU Stakeholder Forum 2019 in Brussels. It was a great day to meet other inspiring projects and connect with them and to present DEEP PURPLE for the first time. Can you see our project mascot PPBella? She had a great time too 😉 Looking forward to … Continue reading “DEEP PURPLE at the BBI Stakeholder Forum 2019”

We want to share a new research article, published in the ELSEVIER Journal of Hazardous Materials written by scientists from the DEEP PURPLE consortium. These results support the use of phototrophic bacteria technologies for resource recovery with low emerging pollutants contamination of the products. Also, they demonstrated that the biological treatment system (photo-anaerobic membrane bioreactor) … Continue reading “ELSEVIER publication proves emerging pollutants do not affect the performance of PPB”

The University of Rey Juan Carlos in cooperation with aqualia created this beautiful video for their joint project Bio3 to showcase the use of the purple phototropic bacteria in waste water treatment plants to extract valuable compounds out of waste and create energy for the plant and further use. Note: Make sure to set the … Continue reading “Video explaning the use of PPB in WWTP”

Join us on 4 December 2019 in Brussels for the BBI JU Stakeholder Forum 2019. Meet the project coordinators of DEEP PURPLE Aqualia at their booth 21A. This year’s Stakeholder Forum is a one-day public event that will bring together the bio-based industries community and facilitate open discussion on the impact, achievements and strategic direction … Continue reading “DEEP PURPLE at the Stakeholder Forum 2019”

APPLICATION CLOSED! The University Rey Juan Carlos offers a Research Assistant job for working under the frame of the European Project DEEP PURPLE (GA No.: 837998). The job has the following RESPONSIBILITIES: – To operate and maintain a pilot-scale bio-refinery consisting of: 1. A pair of 0.5 m3 photo-bioreactors, where purple phototrophic bacteria will evolve … Continue reading “Job Offer DEEP PURPLE at the University of Rey Juan Carlos, Spain”