ECOVAL joins the Green Project Expo platform

Ecoval Sudoe is now part of the Green Project Expo (GPE), an international platform created to connect and communicate innovative projects from different economic sectors that seek to build a more sustainable world. It serves as a large-scale digital exhibition to reach a wide audience, create and disseminate events or make contacts.

 

Green Project Expo brings together various projects from all kinds of industries, from water treatment to transport or health, energy efficiency, technology, forest management, agriculture, oil and gas or smart cities. ECOVAL is included in the “Bio-waste and CO2” category, where it shares space with Biomotive, FRONTSH1P or Grøn Sky, favouring the creation of networks between projects with common interests.

 

ECOVAL’s presence in this new digital space that functions as a loudspeaker brings it closer to achieving its communication and dissemination objectives. Belonging to this platform offers a great opportunity for the project in terms of visibility, impact, development of synergies and networking. Check here ECOVAL’s page on GPE or take a look at its Twitter and Linkedin!

Women’s push for SDG 6: clean water and sanitation for all

Every February 11, since 2016, the International Day of Women and Girls in Science is celebrated. To commemorate it, the United Nations organizes its seventh assembly with the aim of enhancing the role of women as active agents, not only as beneficiaries, in scientific and technological advances that lead us towards a more sustainable and egalitarian future.

Although progress has been made in recent years, women are still underrepresented in STEM. They account for 33.3% of researchers, hold less than a quarter of decision-making positions in educational institutions, represent only 28% of engineering graduates and tend to have shorter and lower-paid careers than their male colleagues, according to UN data. Gender equality, in addition to being a fundamental human right, is essential to meet the complex scientific, ecological and technological challenges of tomorrow with full human potential and sustainable development.

 

Water is the key to life

The theme of this year’s International Day of Women and Girls in Science is “Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: Water Unites Us”. It aims to put the spotlight on the millions of people who, according to UN reports, will be without access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene services by 2030. The causes will be increased demand and poor management of water resources, aggravated by climate change.

The Assembly will bring together scientists and experts from around the world at UN headquarters to discuss the nexus of water in achieving the three pillars of sustainable development: economic prosperity, social justice and environmental integrity. It aims to accelerate the achievement of the sixth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), which aims to ensure water availability, sanitation and sustainable water management for all.

ECOVAL is also working in these directions with the reuse of sewage sludge to create high value-added bio-products such as volatile fatty acids. It is estimated that each year, sewage treatment plants in the Sudoe region generate around 1,300,000 tons of water waste that could have a second life thanks to ECOVAL.

Vanesa Paramá, a research biologist at Cetaqua’s pilot plant, who is working to give sludge a second life in line with the circular economy in the water sector, tells us about it. Thanks to her and other researchers, the ECOVAL project is a solid reality.

Anyone who wants to follow the conversation online can use the hashtags #WomenInScience and #February11. For more information you can visit the following website or the program of the event.

 

How to overcome bottlenecks for the valorisation of biowaste and sludge-based products?

The model that the Ecoval Sudoe project aims to promote involves a paradigm shift: from wastewater treatment stations to biofactories. A change of model, from linear to circular and a change of concept: waste for resources. However, it is not enough to test new technologies for the valorisation of resources categorised as waste; innovation has to go hand by hand with the acceptance of the business model. This is why the project is launching a series of workshops in which different experts will answer the question: how to overcome the barriers for the valorisation of biowaste and sewage sludge?  

The first of the workshops was on 2 December, from 11:00 and 13:30, with the participation of Spanish experts who presented and discussed the barriers they have identified from their experience with bio-waste and sewage sludge, as well as proposals to overcome them. Therefore, the conference, led by Laura Díez and Inés Méndez, technicians of the Fundación Patrimonio Natural de Castilla y León, was attended by:

With the interaction of all participants, the debate on the main legal and administrative barriers to the valorisation of bio-waste and sewage sludge was led by the following speakers:

  • Daniel Ruíz, Grupo Valora, a company specializing in the treatment, recovery and exploitation of waste that can be used for agricultural and forestry purposes, in particular substrate, fertilisers and technosoils.
  • Inmaculada Sanz, FCC, an expert group in environmental, water and infrastructure.
  • Luz Panizo, Aquona, an environmental company that focuses its activity on integral water cycle services.

Stay tuned, this workshop is the first one and focuses on the situation and experience in Spain, but further dates will be announced to analyse the situation in Portugal and France as well. 

A new bin, are you in? – Ecoval Sudoe

Very soon, brown containers will be another element of our streets, a path towards a more circular and environmentally friendly economy. But what is organic waste and what waste should we dispose of in the new brown container?

In the framework of the European Week for Waste Reduction, the Ecoval Sudoe project launches a communication campaign to: 

  • Raise awareness of the need to reduce the waste we generate.
  • Raise awareness of the importance of correct waste separation.
  • Inform about the type of waste that should be disposed of in the brown container.
  • Inform about the environmental benefits of the correct separation and recycling of organic waste.

The campaign will also raise awareness about the incorrect use of the toilet as a waste bin. In order to minimise the waste that is improperly flushed, Ecoval will raise awareness of the consequences of improper toilet use. The most immediate impact would be clogged pipes, but water pollution and environmental degradation are also a direct consequence. It will therefore be explained:

  • Waste that should not be flushed down the toilet
  • The environmental consequences of flushing waste down the toilet

The campaign will run in Spain, France, and Portugal – with content generated in all 3 languages – and will consist of animation videos and testimonial videos, quizzes, and infographics with the aim of raising awareness of correct waste separation and increasing citizens’ commitment to recycling. Different activities will also be organised in schools, where the sharing of the content generated for this campaign will be encouraged.

Join our campaign!

Biofactories and water reuse: Aquona shares its best practices at the 1st Castilla y León Circular Bioeconomy Forum

The European Interreg ECOVAL project that will turn the Palencia wastewater treatment plant into a biofactory is one of the proposals that Aquona’s Director of Sustainable Development, Laura de Vega, shared at the 1st Circular Bioeconomy Forum of Castilla y León that took place in Soria on 27th and 28th October. 

29th October 2021- The circular economy has become a key paradigm for water to be an engine that accelerates the ecological transition and contributes to overcoming the demographic challenge.  This requires innovative proposals from administrations and companies such as Aquona, which manages “the sustainable water cycle in 130 municipalities in Castilla-La Mancha and Castilla y León with a low-carbon model and a commitment to digitalisation and technology to apply solutions based on the circular economy”, said Laura de Vega, the company’s Director of Sustainable Development.

This was highlighted by De Vega at the 1st Circular Bioeconomy Forum of Castilla y León, which was held in Soria on 27th and 28th October. Specifically, Aquona‘s Director of Sustainable Development participated in the workshop on best practices and innovation projects in circular bioeconomy together with Luis Francisco Martín, ReFood Commercial Technician in the central area of Spain of the Saria Group; Ángela Osma, General Secretary of the Spanish Association of Compostable Biodegradable Plastics; Jorge Miñón, Founding Partner of Agrae Solutions S.L. and María Pilar Bernal, President of the Spanish Composting Network and Research Professor at CEBAS-CSIC.

“The circular bioeconomy in the water cycle” was the name of Aquona’s presentation in which it shared the projects in this area that the company is promoting. One of the first lines of action discussed was the transformation of wastewater treatment plants into biofactories, a process in which the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Palencia that Aquona manages is currently involved. The plant’s thermal utilisation rate is already 100% and its energy self-sufficiency is 65%. In addition, “100% of the sludge produced in the treatment process is recovered and used in agriculture”, said Laura de Vega, adding that the “recovery of sand for use as compost” or as filler material in construction sites and ditches is also being tackled. As for water reuse, “part of the treated water is being used to irrigate gardens,” said De Vega. The protection of biodiversity and the involvement of the local community close the cycle in this transformation process.

In addition, the Palencia WWTP is one of the application scenarios of the European Interreg ECOVAL project. With a budget of 1.4 million euros, this initiative is based on the recovery of sludge and solid urban waste to obtain high added value volatile fats for the plastics, lubricants and agrochemical industries.  The Junta de Castilla y León, Palencia City Council and Aquona, together with other partners, promote the project coordinated by CETAQUA, the water technology centre of Agbar, the group to which Aquona belongs.

Circularity in the field of energy can be found in León, where Aguas de León, a mixed company owned by Aquona and the City Council of León, manages the municipal water service and is promoting the Life Nexus project that will generate micro-hydroelectric energy and promote its storage.

This firm commitment to innovation and the company’s circular economy has the 2030 Agenda and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as its roadmap, where alliances “between all stakeholders are essential to multiply the impact of actions”, says Laura de Vega. In the same way, the 2030 Agenda is the guide to achieve a green, sustainable and inclusive reconstruction after the pandemic in which the Next Generation Recovery Funds “are an opportunity to promote the circular economy, propose solutions to climate change and address the needs of digitalisation, supply, sanitation and purification that help us to unite the territory and put an end to depopulation”, she concluded.

The City Council of Ourense, the new associate partner of Ecoval Sudoe

The Ecoval Sudoe project continues to gain support! The City Council of Ourense joins today the associated partners’ list that supports the proposal, which pursues a paradigm shift in urban waste management, based on the recovery of organic waste and sewage sludge to obtain high added value bio-products.   

The support provided by the City Council of Ourense is essential to achieve the objectives pursued by Ecoval. The entity will facilitate the installation of pilot prototypes for the demonstration of technologies in the WWTP of Ourense and will collaborate in the supply of urban biowaste for the technological demonstrations carried out in the project.

In addition, the Council will also collaborate in public awareness campaigns on the correct separation of organic waste.

With the incorporation of the City Council of Ourense, Ecoval already has the support of 30 entities, from four countries and with competencies in different sectors. You can consult here all the entities that support the project’s commitment to the circular economy and environmental protection.

Hands in the mud! Ecoval Sudoe completes work on pilot plant for the production of volatile fatty acids

One of the objectives of the Ecoval Sudoe project is to demonstrate the technical feasibility of producing volatile fatty acids (VFA) from urban sludge. To do this, at the Ourense Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), Cetaqua has set up different tests to optimise the generation of acids such as acetic, propionic, or butyric acid from sewage sludge.

In order to determine the most suitable operating conditions for the pilot VFA production plant, different laboratory-scale tests were first carried out, such as batch tests on a 0.5L scale and the operation of semi-continuous reactors of 5L volume, which demonstrated the suitability of sewage sludge as a substrate with high potential for the production of high added value bioproducts with VFA.

The information provided at the laboratory scale has helped Cetaqua technicians to have a first approximation of the VFA production yields that can be obtained from sludge with and without pre-treatment. They were also able to analyse the effect of operating parameters such as pH, feed/microorganism ratio, hydraulic residence time, etc.

On a pilot scale, the technicians have optimised the fermentation process for the production of VFA, obtaining a stream that has to undergo solid-liquid separation, a unitary operation that has had to be perfected thanks to “jar tests” that have made it possible to determine the optimum doses of coagulant and flocculant for the division of the solid and liquid fractions. Thus, the objective of producing a liquid current rich in VFA for the partner NEREUS to study its clarification and concentration and a high-dryness solid cake that INSA will recover energetically has been achieved.

Following these tests, work is now continuing on the pilot plant which, after a start-up phase marked by hydraulic difficulties in operation and the necessary adjustments, is now operating more robustly. It will soon begin to be fed with biowaste.

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Ecoval participates in the Innovation Days event in Galicia

In the framework of the Galicia Innovations Days event, which took place from 25th to 29th of October, the ECOVAL Sudoe project was presented in the session “The fourth decade of Interreg in Galicia”. This round table about the evolution, successes and opportunities of Interreg in Galicia took place on the first day of the event at 16h.

This session presented the history of Interreg (European Territorial Cooperation), milestones and success stories in Galicia.

The session speakers were: Dirk Peters, Senior Expert for European territorial cooperation, EGTC and ECBM (European Commission); María José Mariño, Director Area of Centres (Axencia Galega de Innovación); Xosé Lago, Poctep Coordinator at the Subdirección Xeral de Acción Exterior e de Cooperación Transfronteiriza (Xunta de Galicia); Nuria Rodriguez Aubo, Innovation and Technology Transfer at FEUGA (Galician Enterprise-University Foundation).

Representing FEUGA, Nuria Rodriguez Aubo, presented the work areas and the Interreg projects developed which FEUGA takes part. In reference to Ecoval SUDOE, the objectives, partners and functions that FEUGA develops in the project, which are dissemination, communication and technology transfer, were presented.

ECOVAL was also present in the exhibition area of the event, together with other Interreg projects, thus reinforcing networking and visibility.

 

Galicia Innovations Days  

The Galicia Innovations Days is an event organised by FEUGA, the Galician Ministry of Education (Xunta de Galicia) and the Galician University System, that brings together companies, researchers, universities, investors and consultants from different European countries and abroad.

12th Urban Intelligence and Sustainability Forum – GreenCities

Thanks to one of our associated partners, Aquona, Ecoval‘s name was present during the 12th Urban Intelligence and Sustainability Forum – GreenCities, on 29 September in Málaga.

This event brought together key opinion leaders in the field of urban management and the mobility of the future in the same space. During two days, the Palacio de Ferias y Congresos de Málaga was packed with ideas and case studies related to sustainability, innovation and circular economy, sharing knowledge, synergies and talent.

Laura de Vega Franco, Director of Sustainable Development at Aquona, participated in the round table organised by the Sustainable Development Department of the Government of Castilla-La Mancha, entitled “The 2030 Agenda from global to local, praxis in Circular Economy, Energy Transition and Digitalisation”. It was here that the ECOVAL project was presented and where it was ensured that “companies, in addition to sustainability, contribute to innovation and digitalisation of the commitment to the circular economy and to the promotion of the 2030 Agenda in the territory”.

29S. International Day of Awareness on Food Loss and Waste Reduction

Just by doing a little five-minute research on food waste, you can realise that the figures are alarming.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), 14% of the food produced is lost between harvest and retail, and 17% of total production is wasted in households, food services and retail trade.

It is clear that a truly sustainable future requires a major reduction in food losses and food waste, but what to do with the leftovers?

Currently, food waste accounts for 38% of total energy use in the global food system. Typically, these wastes are deposited in landfills where they generate greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.

This is where ECOVAL vision comes in. We are committed to a resilient future, in which good organic waste management allows the implementation of a circular consumption model, transforming organic waste into volatile fatty acids and fertilisers. In this way, the energy used to generate the discarded food goes on to favour the growth of others.

If you are interested in being part of this change, do not hesitate to follow us. In addition, you can see all the activities taking place as part of the global virtual event of the International Day of Awareness on Food Loss and Waste Reduction on the FAO website. You will be able to get in-depth information and insights from experts on this issue.

Many of us have already joined the change, take action.