This ANZBP Lunch & Learn will share insights from a recent Europe study tour, co-presented by Nick Bates (Hunter Water) and Chris Conway (Beca HunterH2O).

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If you work in water, waste or regulation, you already know biosolids are getting harder to manage as the rules tighten and land application comes under pressure. So what happens next? To find out, Beca and Hunter Water packed their PPE and headed to Europe, visiting real, operating plants across the UK and Germany. In this episode, we share what we saw on the ground—from farms to furnaces—and what those lessons might mean for Australia as we head toward advanced thermal treatment pathways. Because when regulations change… sludge happens. 

This presentation shares key learnings from a UK and Germany biosolids study tour organised by Beca and attended by Beca’s Technical Directors, with participation from Hunter Water, to inform future sustainable biosolids management in Australia. The tour was deliberately focused on visiting operational, full‑scale facilities and research facilities to gather practical insights into how a range of biosolids treatment technologies perform in practice, including their operational complexity, reliability, energy balance and product outcomes. 

The presentation outlines Hunter Water’s current biosolids context and key regulatory drivers, including increasing contaminant scrutiny, PFAS policy changes and future requirements to cease ocean sludge disposal. It then examines international responses such as advanced anaerobic digestion, sludge centralisation, drying, incineration and advanced thermal conversion (ATC) technologies, including dry carbonisation, drawing directly on observations from operational plants. 

Case studies from major European facilities (Beckton, Colchester, Kleve, Bottrop and Mannheim) demonstrate that regulation is the primary factor shaping biosolids end use. In the UK, a framework that has historically supported agricultural recycling has resulted in continued reliance on land application, although this pathway is becoming increasingly constrained by emerging contaminant concerns. In contrast, Germany’s more prescriptive regulation, including restrictions on land application and mandated phosphorus recovery, has driven a clear shift toward ATC, incineration and drying technologies. 

The core insight is that this first‑hand understanding of operating ATC and advanced digestion systems is highly valuable in the Australian context, as regulatory change is increasingly pointing toward thermal and non‑land‑application pathways. These technologies can deliver improved contaminant management, energy recovery and volume reduction, but they are more complex and capital‑intensive. Future Australian investment decisions will therefore require careful alignment between regulatory expectations, technology maturity, operational capability and viable end‑product markets.

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Nick Bates, Hunter Water
Nicholas Bates is the Program Lead for Biosolids and Resources at Hunter Water. A chartered chemical engineer with 17 years of experience in the water industry, Nicholas is dedicated to a sustainable and circular approach to biosolids management and taking action on climate change.   

 

Chris Conway, Beca HunterH2O
Chris has over 30 years of experience in the water industry, specialising in biological treatment processes and advanced thermal conversion (ATC) solutions for biosolids management, with projects delivered across ANZ, Middle East, South Korea, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, and South Pacific. He has held senior roles including Principal Design Manager, Technical Advisor and Commissioning Engineer.  Chris has extensive experience in the design and upgrade of biological treatment systems and is currently leading the design of an advanced thermal conversion system in Australia, providing process design, technology evaluation, and integration with upstream and downstream treatment processes. He has co‑authored technical publications in the water sector and has delivered complex brownfield and remote site upgrades.

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Event type:	Webinar
Date:	Thursday, 19 February 2026
Time:	11:00am to 12:00pm AEDT
Venue:	Webinar – Online

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