In the European Union (EU) Horizon 2020 (H2020) project NextGen, 24 technologies related to circular economy in the water sector were investigated at 10 case studies distributed across Europe. The technologies are involved in water management and recovery, material recovery and energy recovery. In this context, a database containing information and data referring to those technologies was developed. The database is called technology evidence base (TEB), is open access and hosted by Water Europe as part of the Marketplace (https://mp.watereurope.eu/).

As a potential solution to better use water-embedded resources, the transition to circular water systems and services requires technology-focused approaches that can enhance a positive reception by organizations in the public, business and government sectors. NextGen focuses on water, energy and nutrients/material cycles in the water and wastewater sector to make them economically and environmentally attractive. This report addresses new approaches and best practices for closing the energy cycle in the water sector. Five NextGen case studies developed and demonstrated a wide range of innovative energy recovery technologies/approaches: Athens (EL), Filton Airfield (UK), Braunschweig (DE), Spernal (UK) and Westland (NL).

NextGen aims to boost sustainability and bring new market dynamics throughout the water cycle at the 10 demo cases and beyond. Main objective of WP1 of the project is to provide evidence to demonstrate the feasibility of innovative technological solutions supporting a circular economy transition in the water sector. Through activities to close the water, energy and materials cycles in 10 demo cases, Work package 1 (WP1) will provide the necessary data to assess the benefits and drawbacks of the technologies (WP2), but also to provide evidence to convince stakeholders on their implementation (WP3), while overcoming the social and governance barriers and creating new business models to promote the implementation of those solutions (WP5 & WP6). This report describes the baseline conditions of each of the sites involved in the project considering water, energy and material cycles. The baseline of the 10 sites (Altenrhein, Athens, Braunschweig, Bucharest, Costa Brava, Filton Airfield, Gotland, La Trappe, Spernal and Westland region) will be used at the end of the project so to define the improvement and/or drawbacks and benefits associated to the implementation of the NextGen solutions. This report corresponds to the first deliverable of the WP1, envisaged for June 2019, and complements the information collected for milestone MS3 on Methodology and specific objectives defined for each case study. All the information of this report has been collected by the Cross-cutting Technology Group (CTG) Leaders since July 2018 through regular discussions with the different case study representatives and through different templates that have been prepared and compiled. Baseline of each case study has been defined for each of the nexus of NextGen project using key performance indicators (KPIs) linked to water, energy and materials. Potential interlinkages between case studies are also described in this document, aiming at increasing the uptake and impact of the NextGen solutions.