Green Assist: Boosting sustainability through innovative wastewater treatment

Water quality and reuse are critical challenges in today’s world, as industrial wastewater discharge can severely harm the environment. With support from Green Assist, the French start-up company ZENI plans to offer a sustainable water treatment solution to reduce industrial water waste.

Founded in 2023, ZENI quickly gained recognition for its innovative, nature-based solution. The company uses microalgae to treat industrial wastewater and prevent eutrophication - a harmful phenomenon caused by too many nutrients like nitrates and phosphates in wastewater. If untreated, these nutrients can lead to devastating ecological effects such as algal blooms, dead zones, and water shortages for vulnerable communities.

To tackle this issue, ZENI is developing a photobioreactor—essentially a large aquarium—to be installed at a factory’s wastewater outlet. This device holds controlled, non-toxic microalgae that consume the nitrates and phosphates. The result is clean water that can be safely discharged to the environment or, ideally, be reused back in the factory to save large amounts of water.

This scalable, low-cost, circular solution can be particularly beneficial for sectors such as the aquaculture, brewing, dairy, and food industries that seek innovative ways to reuse industrial water from their processes. 

Beyond water treatment, ZENI’s technology also generates algae biomass, which can be used to make bio-based fertilisers and animal feed, supporting a circular economy.

After discovering Green Assist at the 2023 European Maritime Day event in Brest (France), ZENI applied for support and received free, tailored advice from February to September 2024. A specialised expert from the Green Assist Roster of Experts provided crucial guidance to help scale the project.

The expert conducted an in-depth study of targeted markets, focusing on industrial wastewater treatment and reuse in the dairy, brewery, and aquaculture industries across multiple European countries. This research provided valuable insights to understand the unique market demands and opportunities. The expert also studied the microalgae valorisation markets, identifying potential applications for the biomass in fertilizers and animal feed.

A full regulatory assessment was done, first at the EU level and then for the most relevant countries. Further support included a review of ZENI’s business model, financial plan, and investor pitching, strengthening the company’s ability to secure funding.

Jean-Michel Pommet, CEO of ZENI, praised the collaboration, stating:

‘I had the chance to be selected by the Green Assist initiative. It helped us a lot in better understanding our market at the European level with a high-skilled expert. The expert performed interviews with industrial actors to validate their needs and recruit potential high-level marks of interest for our microalgae waste-water solution.’

Green Assist aims to build a pipeline for high-impact green investment projects in sectors related to biodiversity, natural capital, and the circular economy, as well as in non-environmental sectors.

Learn more about how Green Assist can help you get free tailored support for your green project or contact us at  cinea-green-assist@ec.europa.eu. To request advisory services from Green Assist, simply  fill out this short form.