“Tackling microplastic pollution – Technological solutions suitable for municipal WWTPs”
INSPIRE Slovenian demo Open Day
Wednesday, 18th June 2025
Domžale, Slovenia
INSPIRE Slovenian demo Open Day entitled “Tackling microplastic pollution – Technological solutions suitable for municipal WWTPs” will be organized at the INSPIRE technology installation demo site in Slovenia by the University of Maribor and the Central Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) Domžale-Kamnik.
INSPIRE is a Horizon Europe project supporting the EU Mission to restore oceans and waters by 2030, developing solutions focused on reducing plastic pollution in collaboration with 26 partners.
The Open Day will showcase INSPIRE microplastic retention and elimination technologies being piloted and tested as a cascade solution, involving the following partners and technologies: EcoPlex developed by Waste & Water, Super-TW-Net developed by DELVEC, the membrane filtration device developed by CleraOne, and the photocatalytic nanocoating device developed by KTH Royal Institute of technology. This will be followed by a range of thematic roundtable sessions focused on microplastic removal in municipal WWTPs.
Registration for in-person participation is required via the online registration form.
Participation at the event is free of charge, however the number of spots is limited and registration for all participants is mandatory.
Location: Študljanska cesta 91, 1230 Domžale, Slovenia
Event programme:
8.45 – 9.30 Arrival and registration
9.30 – 10.00 Welcome speeches (media coverage)
- Introductory presentation of INSPIRE and the demo site (Annamaria Vujanović, University of Maribor);
- Head representatives of University of Maribor;
- Marjetka Levstek, CEO of WWTP;
10.00 – 11.00 INSPIRE Domžale use case (Moderator: George Triantaphyllidis, MINDS/HCMR, Greece)
- Presentation of the cascade solution: Annamaria Vujanović, University of Maribor, Slovenia;
- Nikos Katsafados, Waste & Water, Greece: EcoPlex;
- Jeorge Deligiannakis, DELVEC, Greece: Super-TW-Net;
- Kostja Klabjan and Arpad Talasi, CleraOne, Slovenia: Membrane filtration device;
- Prof. Joydeep Dutta, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden: Photocatalytic nanocoating device;
- Q & A.
11.00 – 12.30 On-site showcase of INSPIRE technologies and networking refreshments
- Groups of maximum 10 participants will be organized and accompanied to the installation room for the showcase;
- Each group will participate in a 10-minute visual presentation on the technologies’ operation, led by Annamaria Vujanović (UM) and Špela Erčulj (WWTP Domžale);
- In the meantime, refreshments will be served for networking opportunities.
12.30 – 13.30 Roundtable 1: Addressing microplastics in wastewater treatment – emerging technologies, analytical tools, and digitalization (Moderator: Annamaria Vujanović, University of Maribor)
- George Triantaphyllidis, MINDS/HCMR, Greece;
- Fantina Madricardo, CNR – National Research Council of Italy;
- Nhu Phan, VITO – Flemish Institute for Technological Research, Belgium;
- Marko Petelin, Infordata, Italy;
- Aurelian Danu, Romanian Water Association, Romania;
13.30 – 13.50 Coffee break
13.50 – 14.50 Roundtable 2: Paving the way for future strategies in managing microplastics in wastewater – innovation, policy, and legislation (Moderator: Prof. Joydeep Dutta, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden)
- Marjetka Levstek, CEO of WWTP Domžale, Slovenia;
- Prof. Lučka Kajfež Bogataj, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia;
- Lidija Globevnik, Water Directorate of Ministry of Natural Resources, Slovenia;
- Prof. Simos Malamis, National Technical University of Athens, Greece;
- Patrizia Ragazzo, Veritas SpA, Italy.
14.50 – 15.00 Concluding remarks
