On the 5th and 6th of December the ECOLE partners were welcomed in the snowy Weiz for the second partner meeting of the project. Project partner Innovationszentrum Weiz prepared two days of meetings, workshops, and on-site visits for the partners.

During the first day of meeting the partners had the opportunity to visit the Weiz wastewater treatment plant. In this location the wastewater from the cities Weiz, Naas and Mortantsch is collected and cleaned with a 3-step process, and then released back into the river. During this process the sewage sludge, produced after the first cleanse, is pumped into the so-called "digestion tower", where methane gas (biogas) is produced during digestion. Furthermore, the cleaned water is used to heat 3 neighbouring firms. This is possible because the water has a temperature between 10° and 20°, all year around, and thanks to heat pumps these temperatures can be used.

One of the neighbouring firms that uses this heat is Energie Steiermark, that was also visited by the partners.

As best practice of the project, the Preding-Süd industrial zone was also shown to the partners. More precisely the partners visited the infrastructures of CRAISS Loigistik. CRAISS opened the new Logistik center in 2021 and has since been working on the goal that they have set themselves: become Carbon neutral by 2028. To reach this goal they will continue with the numerous environmentally friendly measures that they already set in place, such as the careful use of resources, the banning of environmentally harmful substances and the energy efficiency of the building. Furthermore, attention is also paid to environmental friendliness in day-to-day operations; for example, used cardboard packaging from incomings is reused and dispatched with biodegradable tape. Organic waste is composted on site, and the workers use the obtained soil to plant their own vegetables.

The meeting was a great success and was a great opportunity of learning more about the industrial zone of the partners.