The project aims to recover, for example, biogas and sludge from the sewage treatment process so the “waste” can be used as energy and fertilizer. Overall, the objective is to make the role sewage process more sustainable and efficient.

The idea of the project is to change the treatment of sewage in Latin America and Caribbean to a more sustainable way, trying to take advantage of all the waste of the process with the minimum disposal to the environment. This is a national project, the general coordinator is Federal University of Minas Gerais and has the participation of six other institutions: USP, UFRJ, UFMS, UFCE, UFPE and ISAE.

The goals are:

• Promotion of structural and structuring measures that improve sanitary sewage services through professional training, the development of appropriate technological solutions to local socioeconomic contexts, the proposal of public policies and the construction of knowledge and their transfer to society;

• Encouraging the universalization of sanitary sewage services in Brazil, in accordance with the goals of the National Sanitation Plan, through the training of qualified human resources and conducting research that fosters the development of integrated and sustainable sewage treatment systems;

• Availability of technical alternatives for water reuse, nutrient recycling and renewable energy production based on the valorization and use of by-products from sewage treatment, thus forming productive arrangements in a low-carbon and circular economy;

• Reduction of pressure on water resources and minimization of financial losses associated with the adoption of inadequate sanitation solutions;

• Contribution to the systemic achievement of ODS, backed by good governance practices;

• Consolidation of inter-institutional competencies network and specialized technical-scientific literature and reference on sustainable TEEs.