ECOVAL organises a waste collection on Tambo Island as part of Let’s Clean Up Europe 2022 campaign

 

On the 15th of November, the ECOVAL SUDOE project will carry out a waste collection campaign in which second year students from Los Sauces secondary school will participate. The activity will take place in Tambo Island (Poio, Pontevedra), on the occasion of the European Week of Waste Reduction and framed in the initiative Let’s Clean Up Europe 2022, which aims to clean the largest number of sites on the European continent while raising awareness among citizens about the volume of waste present in their localities. One of the objectives of this activity from ECOVAL is to educate new generations about the importance of recycling and preserving a healthy and clean environment, as well as to join forces between different groups to generate synergies around the project.

 

The event, jointly organised by FEUGA and CETAQUA with the collaboration of VIAQUA and the Council of Poio will start at 9:30 am and, after the cleaning of the island, those responsible for the activity will give a talk on the importance of the correct separation of waste at source and the brown bin for organic matter, without which the ECOVAL project could not be carried out. Indeed, proper waste separation is essential for innovation and economic projects to be carried out, as organic waste and sewage sludge are the raw material on which the ECOVAL Sudoe project feeds, transforming this waste into high added value products such as Volatile Fatty Acids (VFAs), valuable resources for the plastics and agrochemical industries.

 

Back on land, the students will finally visit the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) of Os Praceres (Pontevedra), managed by Viaqua, where the key process of urban wastewater treatment will be explained to the students, emphasizing the individual responsibility of each citizen in this project and the benefits it brings to society as a whole. It is vitally important that young people are aware of this process and, consequently, of the problems caused by improperly flushing waste down the toilet, such as clogged sewers and treatment plants and the degradation of the oceans’ wealth.

 

This activity is included in ECOVAL’s awareness campaign on the separation of organic waste aimed at the new generations, joining those previously carried out in six schools in Castilla y León by the Natural Heritage Foundation of Castilla y León, as well as the four carried out by FEUGA and CETAQUA in four schools in Galicia. In this way, ECOVAL reaches the figure of approximately 450 students aware of this issue, bringing science closer to citizens and helping to build a sustainable future based on the principle of circular economy.

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.

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!