.GUT

Standards · Sewage sludge recovery

Every sewage plant faces the same changeover by 2029.

Almost every operator is working out the answer alone.

Digester towers at the Dortmund-Deusen sewage plant on the Emscher. Around 850 German sewage plants must change their sludge recovery by 2029.
Digester towers at the Dortmund-Deusen sewage plant on the Emscher. Around 850 German sewage plants must change their sludge recovery by 2029.

around 60 Plants a year in Germany

Operators who must convert their sewage plant describe together what a recovery plant has to deliver. Requirements, tender documents and financing are then ready to go. And because a plant only pays off at regional volume, it is affordable only together.

Join as a municipality Join as a solution provider

Behind this project is .GUT. We bring municipalities and solution providers together, so that what holds every municipality up on its own gets solved. More about our system here.

  1. Pooling demand
  2. 2 Standards workshop
  3. 3 Publication
  4. 4 Framework agreement
  5. 5 Delivery

We are pooling demand.

As soon as enough municipalities and solution providers register interest, we schedule the standards workshop.

What the standards workshop works on.

Four topics that operators and solution providers work on in the standards workshop.

  1. 1
    Choice of process Wet or ash process, Tetraphos, AshDec, Pearl.
  2. 2
    Regional volume pooling What volume makes a plant viable, which catchment area.
  3. 3
    Transport and logistics Dewatering, drying, routes between plant and facility.
  4. 4
    Procurement and financing Inter-municipal company, PPP, recovery through charges.

Who is at the table.

  • Municipalities Towns, special purpose associations and water boards operating a sewage plant.
  • Solution providers Companies for plant construction, recovery processes, mono-incineration and operation.
  • Experts Waste and fertiliser law, charge calculation, inter-municipal contracts.

Still wanted: Municipalities, solution providers and experts for all four topics.

What comes out of it.

A standard that every municipality can adopt into its own tender. And a joint framework agreement from which each municipality calls off what it needs.
Emerging in the workshop Standard Sewage sludge recovery Open format OpenM3S
Requirements catalogue
Procurement route
Financing concept
Implementation plan
Impact measurement
  • Solution-neutral All services described in modules, no products prescribed.
  • Tender-ready Legally reviewed, through to call-off.
  • Financeable Grants planned in, private capital where it fits.
  • Fully planned Every step prepared through to handover.
  • Measurable Metrics from day one.

Frequently asked questions.

Do I commit to anything if my municipality joins?
To nothing. You tell us that your municipality is planning the project, that is all. As soon as enough municipalities plan the same, we invite them to the standards workshop. Whether you take part is then up to you.
What does it cost, and who pays .GUT?
Nothing for municipalities, neither the networking nor the standards workshop. .GUT is financed from the savings that standardisation and pooled orders bring on both sides: solution providers pay for the workshop and a share of the orders that result from it. Registering is free for them too; we state the cost of taking part before the workshop.
Solution providers sit at the table in the workshop. Is that a problem for procurement?
On the contrary, it is the route procurement law provides for this: before a procedure, contracting authorities may explore the market and clarify with providers what can be delivered. Those who do so tender for what exists rather than for what ought to exist. For the procurement itself: the standard is published before anything is tendered, and it describes requirements, not products. Every provider reads the same, whether they were in the workshop or not. We document who contributed to what.
Who is the contracting authority for the joint framework agreement?
Procurement stays in municipal hands. Which body runs the procedure is decided by the participating municipalities once the standard is in place, and they decide on the award. .GUT prepares the procedure and takes most of the work off the municipalities, from the documents to the evaluation, but remains a neutral party: neither contracting authority nor contractual partner for delivery.
Does our solution have to match the standard exactly?
The standard says what the solution must do, not how. How your solution meets the requirements is your business. Any solution provider that meets them can bid for the framework agreement, even without having been in the workshop.

Prefer to talk? 20 minutes, online.

Book a call

How to join.

For municipalities

Your municipality is planning this too?

  1. 1
    Tell us what you are planning Two minutes online. No documents, no obligation.
  2. 2
    Come to the standards workshop With municipalities planning the same. Free to attend, a few sessions.
  3. 3
    Procure under the standard From the joint framework agreement, without a procedure of your own. Whether at all is your municipality's decision.
Free. No obligation to purchase. Join as a municipality
For solution providers

Your solution fits this project?

  1. 1
    Tell us what you deliver Two minutes online. No contract, no costs.
  2. 2
    Positioning Once the workshop is in sight, we place your solution in a conversation: demand, topics, readiness. Then you know your seat and the terms.
  3. 3
    Standards workshop and framework agreement With the municipalities you define what the solution must do. Then you bid once and deliver to many.
Registering is free. We state the cost of taking part before the workshop. Join as a solution provider

Who is behind .GUT.

An initiative in the interest of municipalities.
Marc Bernath Marc Bernath Founder, .GUT Future Cities

.GUT is a privately run initiative based in Berlin. We bring together municipalities that plan the same and, with them and with solution providers, develop shared standards and joint procurement.

.GUT is financed from the savings that standardisation and pooled orders bring on both sides. Participation is free for municipalities. Solution providers pay for the workshop and a share of the orders that result from it. How the system works