The EU-funded iWAYS project successfully concluded its Final Conference on Monday, July 28,2025, showcasing practical solutions to advance resource and energy efficiency in Europe’s energy-intensive industries. Held at Brunel University of London as part of the 17th International Conference on Sustainable Energy & Environmental Protection (SEEP), the event convened key stakeholders from policy, research, and industry to chart a course for a more circular and sustainable industrial future.
As a Horizon 2020 initiative supported by the A.SPIRE Public-Private Partnership, iWAYS has developed and deployed innovative technologies to recover heat, water, and valuable materials from industrial processes. The conference served as a capstone event, presenting the project’s significant achievements and their potential to support Europe’s long-term sustainability goals.
Throughout the day, iWAYS Technical Coordinator Professor Hussam Jouhara FREng detailed the project’s core technological breakthroughs and successful deployments in real-world industrial settings. “iWAYS has moved from theory to tangible reality, proving that significant reductions in water and energy consumption are not just possible, but practical,” said Prof. Jouhara. “This conference was a celebration of that success and a launchpad for the wider market adoption of technologies that are crucial for Europe’s industrial competitiveness and environmental leadership.”
The event featured a powerful keynote from Water Europe Ambassador Geoff Townsend, Chair of the Water-Smart Industries CoP at Ecolab. He outlined strategies for accelerating the industrial circularity transition, emphasizing the need for collaboration. “The transition to a truly circular, water-smart economy hinges on building trust and transparency across the value chain,” stated Townsend. “By embracing multi-stakeholder collaboration and leveraging digitalization, we can unlock unprecedented levels of industrial productivity and innovation.”
In a compelling closing address, fellow Water Europe Ambassador Alain Mestat, Co-Leader of the Water Europe Expert Group on Water & Finance, delivered a call to action to bridge the gap between innovation and investment. “We have the strategies and the technologies. The challenge now is to make sustainable solutions the most rational economic choice,” Mestat urged. “The risk of inaction far outweighs the cost of strategic investment in water-smart infrastructure. We must act now to secure a resilient industrial future.”
The agenda was further enriched by a panel discussion on market uptake and contributions from other leading EU-funded projects, including RESURGENCE, CORNERSTONE Industrial Water, and R3VOLUTION, highlighting a collective European effort toward industrial sustainability.
The iWAYS Final Conference provided a comprehensive overview of how integrated technological solutions can pave the way for a resource-efficient and competitive European industrial landscape.
