Exploiting every drop of water treated turning it into an environmental and economic resource. With this objective in mind, Gruppo CAP is the first integrated water service operator in Italy to access the international WTR voluntary water credit system, paving the way for a new sustainability model for utilities.
The project was set up in collaboration with Hypercube, a leading Swiss group in the tokenisation of environmental impacts and with the support of AON as technical and strategic advisor.
In Italy, only 4% of wastewater is reused, compared to a potential of 21%. CAP is already a major promoter of reuse. Each year, CAP treats 350 million cubic metres of wastewater in its 40 plants, with a reuse rate of 45.4%. The Group's wastewater treatment plant are true biorefineries that transform sludge into energy, fertiliser and resources for agriculture.
The credits originated by Gruppo CAP are specifically based on water treated at the Bresso-Niguarda plant, where part of the water is reused for irrigating Parco Nord Milano. Here, the special pipeline connecting the treated water transport network to the park's irrigation system, will increase the reuse capacity to 500,000 cubic metres per year, compared to the 50,000 currently supplied. These resources will be used to irrigate meadows and feed fountains and canals, improving the efficiency of surface water use. The intervention, realised thanks to an investment of €250,000, drastically reduces withdrawals from the water table by enhancing water in a circular, environmental and social perspective.
Each cubic metre of reused water corresponds to a WTR token. The latter is generated via blockchain technology according to the strictest ESG standards (CSRD, GRI, UN SDG). WTR tokens can be purchased by water-intensive companies to reduce or balance their water footprint, particularly the hard-to-abate component, using a transparent and verifiable system that also allows citizens to track the origin and use of water credits.
The value of WTR tokens issued by Hypercube grew by more than 70 per cent in 2024, indicating a very strong interest from both the public and private sectors in adopting tools that can accelerate the implementation of water-efficient processes and initiatives on a large scale.
In addition to enhancing virtuous processes already underway, the water credit system provides for part of the resources generated by the sale of WTR tokens to be reinvested in new projects in the Lombardy region, with the aim of strengthening infrastructures, promoting reuse and expanding sustainable environmental impact.