Technology
"The circular economy is a system in which all activities, starting with extraction and production, are organized so that someone's waste becomes a resource for someone else.
We need to rethink a new way of producing and consuming, changing the way we live and work and imagining the new trades that will be needed for this transition."
Ellen MacArthur
Every year in Italy more than 3.4 million tons of sludge from urban wastewater treatment are sent to incineration for disposal. This amount is growing every year ( CAGR 6%) and more than 60% of this sludge is not treated efficiently and sustainably.
Polygenerative Integrated System
HBI has developed and patented a proprietary polygenerative technology that treats sewage sludge in a circular manner by minimizing its volume output, producing renewable energy, and extracting secondary critical raw materials.
The System recovers more than 90 percent of the materials and energy contained in the sludge.
The HBI System integrates two innovative processes: hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) and gasification.
The technology developed by HBI was first installed at the Bolzano sewage treatment plant and later at the GP Lab site in Fusina (VE), with an industrial module capable of treating up to 1,000 tons/year of sludge.
In November 2022, the performance of HBI's technology was verified by Rina with the European-recognized ETV certificate (Environmental Technology Verification), attesting that HBI’s System is recognized as the best available technology on the market as it allows the retrieving of more than 90 percent of the resources and energy contained in sludge.