ECOVAL consortium meets in Toulouse

 

The National Institute of Applied Sciences of Toulouse (INSA Toulouse) hosted the consortium meeting of the Ecoval Sudoe project in the same French city on Wednesday and Thursday (23 and 24 November, respectively) in order to share and present the progress achieved so far, as well as the next steps to be taken.

 

The kick-off was at nine o’clock in the morning, where CETAQUA made an introduction and presentation of the project, as well as its contribution to it from a biotechnological perspective to valorise organic waste. Subsequently, the rest of the actors (FEUGA, INSA TBI, NEREUS, USC BioGroup, ADTA, FPNCyL and Porto Ambiente) presented their different contributions to Ecoval Sudoe until midday, when there was a break to resume the activity in the afternoon.

 

On Thursday, the consortium visited the Ginestous Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) in Toulouse to observe first-hand how the city’s sewage sludge is currently treated. It also analysed its potential for transformation into a biofactory, as pursued by the Ecoval Sudoe model to promote a more sustainable and circular economy.

 

This consortium meeting is the fifth one held by the project, after the last one organised last June in the city of Porto, hosted by Porto Ambiente. In this type of events, synergies are generated between the different agents and are a key element for the proper functioning of all types of projects, even more so in the case of Ecoval Sudoe due to the multiplicity of actors, interests and challenges faced with the aim of promoting a circular and sustainable business model in a context of green transition.

ECOVAL gets to know the facilities of SOGAMA, the largest urban waste manager in Galicia

Several ECOVAL partners visited the most important facilities of the Galician Environmental Society (SOGAMA), in Santiago de Compostela and Cerceda. On Wednesday 7th September, the coordinator and several members of CETAQUA, the project leader, together with members of FEUGA, the partner responsible for communication, and USC enjoyed a guided visit to SOGAMA’s industrial complex.

SOGAMA is a regional public company at the service of Galicia’s environmental policy in the area of urban waste management and treatment. It is based on the prioritisation of waste prevention, reduction, preparation for reuse, recycling and recovery. Traditionally, Sogama focused its management on two fractions of urban waste: the yellow bag, i.e. the materials deposited by citizens in the yellow container (plastic containers, cans and bricks), and the black bag (the rest) placed in the generic container. In the last three years, they have also introduced separate management of bio-waste, through collection in the brown bin and management in their compost plants. They have 37 transfer plants located in different parts of Galicia, an environmental complex and a controlled landfill in Cerceda.

In addition, SOGAMA is an associate partner of ECOVAL, and works on campaigns against food waste such as “A túa comida ten algo que dicirche”, which promotes synergies with the project’s “A new bin, are you in?” campaign.

 

1,000,000 tonnes of municipal waste per year

The guided tour to get to know its facilities will start at 09:30h at the Santiago de Compostela Transfer Plant. The function of these plants is to allow the transfer of waste from municipal collection lorries to containers of greater capacity (with a load of 20 tonnes) and more suitable for long-distance transport. At 11:00h they will move to the Environmental Complex in Cerceda. With a surface area of 65 hectares and a nominal waste treatment capacity of 1,000,000 tonnes per year, this is the point around which the company’s industrial activity revolves. This is where the recyclable materials deposited in the yellow bag are separated, facilitating their delivery to recyclers, and the energy recovery of the non-recyclable fraction of the black bag is carried out. From there they will go to the industrial composting plant, located in the same locality at the Areosa non-hazardous waste landfill. This facility is the end of the route and the end of the cycle for some organic waste, which, not being recoverable in other ways, becomes part of the 3,000 to 4,000 tonnes of compost produced at the plant.

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.

R&D&I projects boost Ourense’s biofactory as a European benchmark in circular economy

The results obtained in the CIGAT Biofactory Joint Unit have boosted the development of new R&D&I solutions in the Ourense biofactory, through the new ECOVAL and WalNUT projects.

The Ourense Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) is currently a benchmark in circular economy thanks to the transformation it has undergone in recent years by becoming a biofactory, i.e. a new model of facility based on the principles of circular economy, where water is regenerated for subsequent reuse, renewable energy is produced and waste is transformed into resources. In this way, the value of resources is maximised by promoting an energy-neutral model that contributes to zero waste.

The success of the results obtained in the CIGAT Biofactory Joint Unit, the result of the public-private collaboration between Viaqua, Cetaqua and the Galician Innovation Agency (GAIN), has served as a basis for the development and implementation of new R&D&I projects, this time with a focus on Europe, such as H2020 Walnut and Interreg Sudoe ECOVAL.

Both projects, aligned with the 2030 Agenda, position Galicia as a European benchmark in terms of the implementation of innovative technologies developed for the efficient management of urban flows and the consequent use of waste for a lower environmental impact.

ECOVAL (Coordination strategies for the management and recovery of sludge and organic waste in the SUDOE region), headed by Cetaqua Galicia, is based on the valorisation of urban organic waste and sewage sludge to obtain bio-products such as Volatile Fatty Acids (VFA), useful for the plastics, lubricants and paint industries, among others. Walnut, led by CARTIF, seeks the recovery of nutrients and the subsequent production of biofertilisers, thus preventing the contamination of water bodies and promoting circularity in the fertiliser industry within the framework of the European Union.

 

More than 100 people attended the event “From wastewater treatment plants to biofactories: the potential of water in the circular economy”, to learn about the technical advances and results of the two European projects being developed in Ourense.

During the event “From wastewater treatment plants to biofactories: the potential of water in the circular economy”, held this morning in the auditorium of Ourense, leading representatives of public administration, universities and companies have come to discuss about the existing social, legal and market barriers for the valorisation of high added value products present in wastewater, useful for industry and agriculture.

The Deputy Mayor of Ourense, Armando Ojea, opened the event by highlighting “the development of research projects in Ourense, which allow giving a second chance to WWTP waste, making the city more sustainable”.

Actors from the entities involved, such as Agbar, Cetaqua and the CARTIF Technology Centre, have intervened to talk about the circular economy models implemented, the valorisation of matter in fatty acids and nutrients applied in the fertiliser industry carried out. On the other hand, the University of Vigo and FEUGA, have participated focusing on the legislative and transfer barriers for the transformation of wastewater treatment plants into biofactories.

The end users of the extracted resources, represented by Repsol, Fertiberia and Grupo Valora have highlighted during their interventions the viability of the application of these compounds in the chemical, petrochemical and fertiliser industries as a key step to promote circular and sustainable models.

During the round table moderated by the Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC), Juan Manuel Lema, representatives of the Diputación de Ourense, Cetaqua, Viaqua, Repsol, Fundación Patrimonio Natural de Castilla y León (FPNCyL) and Fertiberia met to discuss the potential of water within the circular economy.

Juan José Vázquez, head of Water of the Xunta de Galicia in Ourense, has been in charge of closing the event highlighting the importance of projects like these to build a sustainable future and deal with the problem of the lack of resources and the increase of waste.

The day ended with a guided tour of the Ourense biofactory, where attendees had the opportunity to see, first hand, the facilities and technologies applied for both projects.

7 April: “From wastewater treatment plants to biofactories: the potential of water in the circular economy”

After the postponement in January, the event “From wastewater treatment plants to biofactories: the potential of water in the circular economy“, organised by Cetaqua and FEUGA in the framework of the innovation projects Ecoval Sudoe and WALNUT, is back. It will take place on 7 April in both on-site and online formats.

This meeting aims to explore the concept of biofactories and present the technical advances of both projects. In addition, the social, legal, and market barriers for the valorisation of high added value products for agriculture and industry, such as sludge or biofertilisers obtained from waste flows from urban water treatment plants, will be discussed.

Here you can consult the full programme of the event, which runs from 10:00 to 17:00, with presentations and round tables to reflect on the essential value of water in the transition to a circular economy. The blocks in which the day is divided are:

  • Block I: past, present and future of biofactories.
  • Block II: legislative/transfer barriers to the implementation of biofactories.
  • Block III: end-users of biofactory by-products.
  • Final block: round table.

After a morning of debate and participation, there will be a break for lunch and at 15:30 there will be a visit to the Ourense biofactory, where you can learn about the different water treatment processes.

The event will also be broadcast on Zoom with English translation. The capacity of both the on-site and virtual event is limited, and registration will close when the maximum number of participants is reached. Don’t miss out, register here!