Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of wet organic waste is a promising technology for producing renewable liquid fuels. However, implementation of the process at commercial scales must overcome several challenges. Efficient management of the contaminated aqueous phase generated after the conversion is necessary to limit water treatment expenses. In this study, we suggest the, direct recycling, of the aqueous phase at the inlet of the HTL process. The purpose is to evaluate the effect of recycling the process water on the bio-oil recovery and quality. HTL of blackcurrant pomace was performed in a batch autoclave, at a temperature of 310 degrees C, with a holding time of 10 min, and a dry biomass concentration of 14.5 wt %. The influence of recycling the process water at the inlet of the process was evaluated for five recycle rounds. Recycling the process water has a positive effect on the bio-oil recovery, with the bio-oil yield increasing from 26 wt % to 31 wt % after five recycles. The energy recovery respectively increased from 48% to 57%, mainly because of the better bio-oil yield. Along the recycling experiments, the aspect of the,raw organic residue recovered from the, reactor changed, from an oily :solid to a free-flowing organic residue. Analytical results (total organic carbon, thermogravimetric analysis, and gas chromatography mass, spectroscopy (GC-MS) analysis) suggest that the improvement of the bio-oil yield is mainly due to the saturation of the aqueous phase with light-polar organics, which contribute to bio-oil formation by condensation reactions. Especially, products from the Maillard reaction could play an important role.