Hydrothemal Carbonization (HTC) technology has demonstrated to successfully convert biowaste and sludge – which are input feedstocks - into high quality hydrochar, sometimes considered to be a more valuable product than biochar materials. Several HTC industrial plants operate in Europe. Ingelia, an HTC technology developer, operates its own industrial HTC plant in Valencia (Spain) since 2010, CPL Industries Ltd operates an HTC Plant in the UK which was commissioned in 2018 and a third plant is under construction in Belgium, expected to start operations in 2021. Ingelia HTC technology has been proven at commercial scale, reaching TRL9. The HTC process acts as an acceleration of the natural coal formation process, working at moderate pressure and temperature (20 bar and 210 ºC for the Ingelia process), allowing the dehydration of the organic matter and increasing the C-content up to 60 wt.%. By means of HTC, feedstock with high moisture content converts into a coal-like product called hydrochar. The Ingelia HTC technology includesseparation equipment for impurities that are present in the waste such as sands, stones, pieces of metals or glass. However, there are some inorganic components in the carbon structure, such as Ca, K, or P, that can be reduced by specific washing and chemical post-treatment steps. As a result of the HTC process, most of the carbon content of different wet organic waste streams is concentrated and retained within the obtained hydrochar. HTC process represents a solution for the valorisation of biowaste streams, while generating a carbonbased solid fraction, hydrochar, that can be used as an energy source, a soil ameliorant, or as a feedstock to produce bioproducts. The hydrochar is chemically stable and storable, preventing the emission of methane if the feedstock would be landfilled. The moisture present in the feedstock condensates after the HTC process, and solubilises elements like N, P, K, etc. These elements represent a liquid biofertilizer that potentially can be used as a substitution of chemical fertilizers. The HTC process provides a source of renewable carbon whose properties can be adapted to its final application. The hydrochar can undergo specific post-treatment to reduce the content of specific nutrients to the limits accepted in the industry and energy sector, or to modify moisture content and density (by palletisation or briquetting) with the aim of delivering a product that can be sold as a natural resource for fossil coal substitution.A life cycle assessment was carried out to determine the potential environmental impacts (global warming, freshwater eutrophication, and terrestrial acidification) of a large-scale HTC plant processing 78 000 ton of wet biowaste and sludge per year in Italy. The analysis highlighted three major contributors to overall environmental impacts; electricity and thermal energy used in the process, CO2 produced in the process, and the organic content in the waste streams impacting the environment when applied to land. The analysis shows that there is potential for improving the environmental performance of the HTC process by optimising energy use and using greener sources of energy.