Where others see waste, TORWASH sees a valuable resource. Using unique, patented techniques, this spin-off company transforms sludge, wet grass clippings and mixed plastics into useful materials. Think biofuel, biogas, fertiliser and raw materials for new plastics. Thanks to TORWASH’s technology, high waste disposal costs are a thing of the past. TORWASH received an investment from the TTT Circular Economy programme for its first major project, a demo plant in Cuijk (The Netherlands).
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Delen
Levien de Legé, managing director of TORWASH, along with his co-founders Pavlina Nanou and Jan Pels, was previously active for research institute TNO. “I have always dreamt of wider acceptance of renewable energy, precisely by making the transition cheaper,” he says. “I was previously involved in solar and wind energy with a subsequent involvement with biomass. My goal has always been to develop innovations that use low-grade biomass as feedstock for high-grade biofuels. I want to replace wood as a feedstock. This is exactly why TNO developed the TORWASH process to treat sewage sludge. In the end, we decided to take the plunge and step into entrepreneurship.”
Dryer sludge
TORWASH’s technology ensures that sludge is treated under high pressure and high temperature without additives. This makes the final product much drier: so dry that it can serve as fuel. Sludge is the substance that remains after wastewater is cleaned. It contains a lot of water which needs to be decreased. This reduces the climate footprint: fewer trucks with sludge on the road. Win-win!
First success
TORWASH previously demonstrated the performance of its technology at the Almere sewage treatment plant. Sewage sludge was extensively dewatered without using polyelectrolyte. By 2023, a plant 20 times larger than the one in Almere will have started up at the Land van Cuijk sewage treatment plant. Levien: “The operation of that pilot plant was our first success. We succeeded in producing a high-quality biofuel from the sludge. Challenges certainly remain. After the demonstration at Land van Cuijk, we want to scale up again by a factor of twenty and build a full-scale plant that processes all the sludge from the sewage treatment plant. We are looking for further funding for that. By the end of 2026, we want to have the first commercial wastewater treatment system running based on our technology. We then want to make 100% reusable products from sewage sludge, so that it makes a significant contribution to the sustainability goals of the water treatment world.”
Pitch
TORWASH was also enlisted by Land van Cuijk for sewage purification. TORWASH received pre-seed funding from the Water Board, RVO for the installation and, therefore, also from the TTT programme (via investor SHIFT Invest). Levien is very pleased with the cooperation within the TTT programme. “The contacts are very valuable and we have learnt a lot. For instance, I found the workshop on pitching your business idea instructive and relevant. After all, those are things you didn’t have to think about as a researcher as much before.”
Recognition
TORWASH is increasingly putting itself on the map. For instance, co-founder Pavlina Nanou was recently one of three nominees for the Prins Friso Ingenieursprijs. This is awarded annually by the Dutch Royal Institute of Engineers (KIVI) to an engineer who excels in expertise, innovative capacity, social impact and entrepreneurship. TORWASH also won the Water Board’s Water Innovation Award in early 2024. Levien: “It shows that we are engaged in a worthwhile mission. Sewage sludge is considered one of the dirtiest waste streams and is expensive to treat. Our dream is to expand globally and turn a useless waste stream into a useful raw material. We will continue to fight for that.”
About Levien
Levien is originally a chemical technologist (TU Delft), but these days mainly a business developer. He deals with finance and acquisition. Levien talks to users to assess how specific situations require specific solutions. Together with other team members and partners, he looks for targeted adjustments to technology. In collaboration with the customer/end user, he calculates the economic feasibility. Levien also takes care of contacts with investors. For the large pilot plant for sludge in the Land van Cuijk, funding is in place, but next year the system has to be redesigned to make it a commercial product, to go to market in 2026. This will require a lot more money and we are currently looking for investors.
More information: www.torwash.com