KEY DATA
Start – end date: 1 June 2026 – 31 May 2030
Duration: 48 months
Programme: Horizon Europe — HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-ZEROPOLLUTION-07 (Reducing pollution from the food and drink industries)
Coordinator: Eurecat
Consortium: 18 partners from 10 countries
The challenge
A hidden pollution burden in food and drink production
Europe’s food and drink industry feeds the continent across more than 290,000 processing facilities. Every one of them must be cleaned, constantly.
Cleaning is where the problem begins. It is the most water-demanding process in food and drink production, accounting for up to 70% of a factory’s total water use, and it relies on detergents, disinfectants and antimicrobials.
The resulting wastewater carries micro- and nanoplastics, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS, often called “forever chemicals”), endocrine disruptors, antibiotic residues, hormones and disinfection by-products. These pollutants survive conventional treatment and build up in rivers, soils and sludge, with consequences for biodiversity, food safety and human health.
The EU standards that define how industry must control its pollution still focus on conventional pollutants, leaving these substances largely unaddressed. Industry cannot act on what it cannot measure, and regulators cannot regulate what has never been quantified.
EmerGO exists to change that: to make these pollutants visible, remove them where they arise, and give Europe the evidence to act.
Our approach
Four pillars working to zero pollution
1. Map
Before pollutants can be reduced, they must be found. EmerGO traces how they arise in food and drink production, identifies which ones pose the greatest risk, and builds a complete picture of the problem.
2. Monitor
Laboratory tests take days and capture only a moment. EmerGO develops portable, cost-effective sensors a factory can use on site, so pollutants are detected as they are released.
3. Treat
Conventional treatment cannot remove the most persistent pollutants. EmerGO demonstrates circular treatment that breaks them down at the source, while recovering cleaning agents and returning clean water to the factory for reuse.
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4. Act
Evidence only matters if it changes something. EmerGO works with regulators to shape the rules industry must follow, and with consumers on labels that show how cleanly food was made.
Our targets
What success looks like...
40-80%
fewer targeted pollutants at the pilot plants
Over 75%
of pollutants removed by advanced treatment
Over 50%
of treated water returned to the factory for reuse
Over 30%
of salts and cleaning agents recovered
Our solutions
From the laboratory to the production line to the supermarket shelf
Portable sensors
Detect pollutants on site, in real time.
Microplastic detector
Identify particles too small for standard checks.
Advanced water treatment
Break down "forever chemicals" and antibiotic residues at the source.
Water and agent recovery
Return clean water and cleaning chemicals to the factory for reuse.
Treatment selector
A free online tool predicting the best treatment for each pollutant.
Consumer transparency
Labels and dashboards, created with consumers, that make cleaner production visible.
Who benefits?
Cleaner water and safer food benefit us all
Food & Drink industry
Cleaner cleaning processes, smarter water use and readiness for tighter pollution rules; technology providers gain new market-ready solutions.
Regulators and policymakers
Better data and evidence to set standards and advance the EU’s zero-pollution goals.
The research community
New methods, data and tools to detect, assess and treat persistent and emerging pollutants.
Society & consumers
Safer food and drink, cleaner water and a healthier environment, as pollution is cut at source.