ECOVAL puts the brown container on the map

Ecoval Sudoe goes a step further in its commitment to the implementation and correct use of the brown bin by creating a map that allows visualising the first separation bins for the organic fraction installed in different cities of the European Union. This tool is a new commitment of the project to disseminate and raise public awareness of the importance of recycling, and in particular the proper use of the brown bin.

The “treasure map” is a playful tool with which the brown bins can be visualised geographically and was created thanks to the active collaboration with users of social networks. The aim of the map is to disseminate the evolution of the gradual implementation of the fifth container and to familiarise the general public with its presence. The map also shows that the colour code sometimes varies, with this container being blue or green in cities such as London or Oleiros.

The project’s website also contains other materials such as videos and posters or a good practice guide, which allow visitors to answer their questions about the correct separation of waste, as well as interactive games to test the knowledge acquired.

The brown bin is becoming more common in cities as a result of the European Waste Management Directive, as a key element to be able to recycle the organic fraction separately. Its implementation has been irregular so far, as not all cities have brown bins, although it should be present in all European cities by 2024.

The correct separation of waste is extremely important for projects such as Ecoval Sudoe. Without proper separation, innovative processes such as the one implemented by the project could not be carried out.

 

Campaign “Another bin, are you in?”

 

The “treasure map” is a new element of the campaign “Another bin, are you in?”, launched by the Galician University Enterprise Foundation (FEUGA) for the European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR) 2021. The campaign focused on raising public awareness of the importance of correct waste separation, with a special focus on organic waste, the brown bin and the inappropriate use of the toilet as a waste bin.

In June 2022, the campaign was awarded the European Special Prize in Brussels in recognition of its impact, creativity and participatory nature. The European Week for Waste Reduction is the biggest waste prevention awareness-raising event in Europe, which was an important media boost for the Ecoval Sudoe project and confirms its good work in the field of communication and public awareness-raising.

 

Ecoval visits Colexio Mendiño

Ecoval llevará su campaña al Colexio Mendiño

On Wednesday 18 May, the European project ECOVAL SUDOE presented its model of management and recovery of sewage sludge and organic waste to the students of the Mendiño school in Vigo.

Continuing with the values of the European Week for Waste Reduction, Ecoval Sudoe takes its campaign “Another bin, than brown” to Colexio Mendiño, a vocational training centre in the city of Oviedo.

The centre trains young people aged between 15 and 25 in administrative management, commerce and auxiliary nursing care. Although they are three very different branches, the Mendiño School strives to instil transversal values such as the importance of maintaining a healthy diet and separating waste correctly for recycling.

The Fundación Empresa-Universidad Gallega (FEUGA), communication leader in the project, organised a day in which the students reinforced their knowledge about how to separate waste, with special interest in the new brown bin, the one for organic waste. This container will be a reality in all European cities in 2024 and is already starting to be implemented in the city of Vigo. There are currently only 70 units of these containers, but the procedure has already begun to install 1950 more units.

The event took place on 18 May, with morning and afternoon sessions, taking advantage of the proximity of International Recycling Day, which is celebrated every year on 17 May. The students were able to learn how much organic and inorganic waste we generate annually, the current problem they pose and the solutions proposed by the project, based on their separation and recovery as Volatile Fatty Acids (VFA), a product in great demand by various industries and which is currently obtained mainly from oil.

The talk included theoretical explanations of the project framework, a small question and answer competition and a space to discuss the topics of most interest to the students, as well as any doubts they might have. In this way, the knowledge generated by the project was brought closer to the citizens in a pleasant and easy to understand way, placing science at the service of the population and favouring awareness and sensitisation on sustainability issues.

This activity follows the line of the presence of the project in schools, which began with the implementation of containers in schools in Ourense and will continue with another similar visit next week to the school of Vilaboa.

Brown containers arrives at Ourense schools thanks to the Ecoval Sudoe project

  • Ourense Town Council and Viaqua promote the participation of a school from Ourense in the ECOVAL project for the revalorization of organic waste
  • CEIP of Seixalbo will contribute the waste from its school dinning room to the pilot plant located at the Ourense WWTP

The Ecoval Sudoe project, strategies for the management, coordination and recovery of sludge and organic waste in the SUDOE region, enters a new phase in 2022. After successfully illustrating the technology for converting sewage sludge into volatile fatty acids, compounds that are converted into products such as paints, lubricants or adhesives in the chemical and petrochemical industry, the Ourense Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) will now change its raw material to recover selectively collected organic waste taken from the containers recently installed at the Seixalbo school in Ourense.

In this way, the school canteen has become a supplier of the raw material to be used by the pilot plant to obtain volatile fatty acids. Moreover, the establishment is also involved in the environmental education campaign “Another container, a brown one!”, the goal of which is to raise the awareness of youngsters as to the importance of the correct separation of waste, with an emphasis on the fifth container and the characteristics of organic waste. The CEIP Seixalbo is a public school in the municipality of Ourense that is very involved in raising environmental awareness among its students, with the organization of workshops on the correct separation of waste, the creation of a school garden, composting activities and now participation in this European research project.

Representatives from Cetaqua, the leader of the project, from the Department of Education of the City Council of Ourense and Viaqua, came in person to the school to present the project and lay the foundations for collaboration. In adition to Cetaqua, representatives from the Ourense Town Council and Viaqua, official partners committed to supporting and promoting the initiative, also attended, positioning the town of Ourense and its waste treatment plant in particular as a reference benchmark in the commitment to the development of green technologies and the circular economy.

Castile and Leon, represented in the project by the Natural Heritage Foundation, together with the Palencia Town Council and Aquona, who also support the initiative, will also be involved in the supply of organic waste through schools as a means of raising awareness as to the importance of caring for the environment while promoting the biofactory model.

The importance of the Ecoval approach

Each individual in the Sudoe region, which encompasses the Spanish autonomous communities (with the exception of the Canary Islands), the south-western regions of France, the mainland regions of Portugal, Gibraltar and the Principality of Andorra, generates 136kg of organic waste a year. This results in the generation of 11 million tons of organic waste a year, 9 million of which are food remains. Currently, 65% of this organic waste is incinerated or dumped in landfills due to the limited use of selective collection processes.

Since the project was launched in November 2020, Ecoval has paved the way for the arrival of brown containers, which should have been installed in all European cities by late 2023. Thanks to the approach promoted by the project, bio-waste will be returned to the economic cycle, thereby contributing to the European Union goal to recycle 65% of municipal waste by the year 2035.

In addition to the aforementioned partners, Santiago de Compostela University, the Galician Business-University Foundation, the National Institute of Applied Sciences of Toulousse, Nereus, Aguas do Tejo Atlantico and the Municipal Environment Company of Porto are all taking part in this challenge. The joint venture, co-financed by the Interreg Sudoe Programme through the European Regional Development Fund, also enjoys the support of 31 associated partners.