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The need for a common law in the Mediterranean basin for waste, wastewater and renewable energy
Abstract
The Mediterranean Sea is, for all the countries that surround it, a place of encounter and exchange extremely important. In recent years the attention of Europe has focused on the development of renewable energy in the countries of the southern shore, which are proving to have a very high regional growth in this sector. There is also the opportunity to make grow the business sector of waste from one side to the other of the Mediterranean. What is missing is a common law that is able to ensure legal certainty, and an effective protection of the environment that surrounds us.
The paper discusses the main concerns of an European project, within "H2020-EU.3.5.4. - Enabling the transition towards a green economy and society through eco-innovation". As described on the EC website "INNOQUA will accelerate the path to market of a modular set of innovative, patent protected, award winning and scalable fully ecological sanitation solutions that address wide market needs in rural communities, for agricultural industries, for sustainable home-builders or collective housing owners and for developing countries worldwide". The project is built based on a modular system addressing the purification capacity of biological organisms (worms, zooplankton and microalgae) so as to bring the necessary ecological, safe and affordable sanitation capacity, "by fully addressing the thematic and cross cutting priorities of the European Innovation Partnerships (EIP) on Water". The integrated solution proposed by the project is a new and innovative one. The final reuse of wastewater offers a particularly attractive strategy in European communities characterized by small to medium remote water stress, but also with high water demand for agricultural purposes and/or in the view of natural freshwater ecosystems conservation. This way, the proposed strategy can prove to be a sustainable solution for 'zero' wastewater production with the complete reuse of this resource, at small to medium scale situations. However, to reduce the waste directed to surface freshwaters, an integrated solution for the treatment of wastewater is required. This will lead to the attainment of good quality of water, as stated by the Water Framework Directive. The robust but efficient technologies are also perfect for distribution in markets where resources are restricted and trained staff inaccessible.
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