Background To meet the requirements of European legislation, Wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) must reduce the nutrient content of effluent discharges to within certain limits. Such limits exist, for example, for suspended solids (SS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), nitrogen (N), and phosphorous (P). These nutrients could be recovered for use in products such as fertilisers. At the same time, WWTPs need to become more energy efficient. The treatment phase currently consumes a large amount of energy, which has a negative impact in terms of C02 emission and climate change. However, there is potential to recover energy from the treatment process in the form of biogas from anaerobic digestion. At present, energy recovery is not very efficient. Objectives The LIFE NECOVERY project aims to demonstrate an efficient process for recovering energy and nutrients from the wastewater treatment process. Specifically, it aims to demonstrate, by means of a prototype, an innovative WWTP flowchart based on a cradle-to-cradle approach. The new system will be based on an innovative up-concentration – biosorption - step at the inlet of the WWTP. This will produce an upper effluent with very little solids and a bottom effluent with a high quantity of solids. The downstream process focuses on handling the two streams from the up-concentration step to produce maximum energy and nutrient recovery. The anaerobic digestion of the up-concentrated sludge in a continuous stirred-tank reactor (CSTR) will produce biogas more efficiently than conventional anearobic digestion. The project will evaluate and confirm the benefits of this cradle-to-cradle approach, compared to the conventional flowchart, across the life cycle of the WWTP process. It specifically aims to confirm the: technical feasibility (proof of concept): proving that the flowchart is relevant and that the operation is reliable and efficient; efficient recovery of resources: proving that the energy balance of the plant is improved and nutrients can be recovered from the main stream; environmental benefits: quantifying the reduction in terms of environmental impacts using a Life Cycle Analysis approach; economic viability: proving that the costs of the WWTP system are reduced using a Life Cycle Costing approach. The project will define how the system can be applied in existing WWTPs and promote a change of mind-set in order to improve performance and implementation of the flow chart. It will work to identify the key stakeholders for future commercialisation. Expected results: The successful demonstration of an innovative prototype for a self-sustainable WWTP concept, delivering both improved energy and resource efficiency. The new system will: Be 60% energy self-sufficient, with greater biogas production arising from the higher sludge recovered in the up-concentration process (without external substrates); Achieve 70% nutrient recovery, by implementing recovery of N and P in the main line; Return 80% of by-products to land by re-using the sludge produced in anaerobic digestion; Deliver a 30% reduction in the carbon footprint of the WWTP, as a result of the implementation of the new flowchart.