31 Markets for sludge treatment
| Market | Data Year | Declared Sludge (kt DS/yr) | AQUIS Capacity (MW) | AQUIS Islands | Priority |
| Austria | 2023 | 197.3 | 70.1 | 2.0 | Low |
| Belgium | Data required | — | — | — | Review |
| Bulgaria | 2023 | 57.5 | 20.4 | 0.6 | Low |
| Croatia | 2023 | 44.7 | 15.9 | 0.5 | Low |
| Cyprus | 2023 | 8.6 | 3.0 | 0.1 | Low |
| Czechia | 2023 | 220.1 | 78.2 | 2.2 | Low |
| Denmark | Data required | — | — | — | Review |
| Estonia | 2023 | 37.1 | 13.2 | 0.4 | Low |
| Finland | 2023 | 141.6 | 50.3 | 1.4 | Low |
| France | 2023 | 1,143.1 | 406.0 | 11.6 | High |
| Germany | 2023 | 1,628.8 | 578.5 | 16.5 | High |
| Greece | 2022 | 99.1 | 35.2 | 1.0 | Low |
| Hungary | 2023 | 244.6 | 86.9 | 2.5 | Low |
| Iceland | Data required | — | — | — | Review |
| Ireland | 2023 | 59.0 | 20.9 | 0.6 | Low |
| Italy | Data required | — | — | — | Review |
| Latvia | 2023 | 21.3 | 7.6 | 0.2 | Low |
| Liechtenstein | Data required | — | — | — | Review |
| Lithuania | 2023 | 41.3 | 14.7 | 0.4 | Low |
| Luxembourg | 2023 | 10.3 | 3.7 | 0.1 | Low |
| Malta | 2023 | 8.3 | 3.0 | 0.1 | Low |
| Netherlands | 2023 | 351.0 | 124.7 | 3.6 | Low |
| Norway | 2023 | 175.7 | 62.4 | 1.8 | Low |
| Poland | 2023 | 549.7 | 195.2 | 5.6 | Medium |
| Portugal | Data required | — | — | — | Review |
| Romania | 2023 | 176.9 | 62.8 | 1.8 | Low |
| Slovakia | 2023 | 56.4 | 20.0 | 0.6 | Low |
| Slovenia | 2023 | 27.2 | 9.7 | 0.3 | Low |
| Spain | 2022 | 766.7 | 272.3 | 7.8 | Medium |
| Sweden | 2022 | 197.8 | 70.2 | 2.0 | Low |
| Switzerland | 2019 | 184.0 | 65.3 | 1.9 | Low |
| Countries 31 | 6,448 KT/yearly | 2,290 MW | 65.6 Islands |
Summary
| Summary | Total |
| Markets assessed | 31 |
| Declared dry sludge | 6.5 Million Tonnes Yearly |
| AQUIS capacity | 2.2 GW LRNG |
| AQUIS island equivalents | 66 Islands or (33 Clusters) |
Priority rule:
- High = 10.0+ islands
- Medium = 5.0–9.9 islands
- Low = below 5.0 islands
- Review = data incomplete
About the market
The AQUIS market is not limited to sewage sludge. It includes every public and industrial water-treatment installation that captures contaminants and then needs a safe final route for sludge, screenings, spent filters, biochar cartridges, digestate, microplastics, nanoplastics and PFAS-loaded material.
The figures above use declared sewage-sludge dry solids as the measurable capacity floor. The total AQUIS protection market is wider because European water reporting is voluntary and does not consistently capture drinking-water residues, smaller systems, industrial sludges or contaminant-specific treatment.
The islands tell us how much infrastructure Europe needs.
The installations tell us how many potential recurring AQUIS customers exist.
That is the key difference from TITAN, ASMARA and IGNIS, primarily measured by feedstock and clusters; AQUIS is measured by islands and the much larger number of contracted service customers. The AQUIS business model assumes that the water is naturally extracted at the water treatment plant and “cake” is exported in the same format as AD Digestate
