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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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.

Biogroup and INSA Toulouse meet to plan joint tasks of ECOVAL

Within the framework of ECOVAL Sudoe, a meeting to discuss the impact and replicability of the project was held at the National Institute of Applied Sciences of Toulouse (Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Toulouse) between the 13th and the 16th of July. Almudena Hospido, in representation of BioGroup (CRETUS) met with peers Mathilde Besson and Etienne Paul, on behalf of INSA Toulouse and the Toulouse Biotechnology Institute.

The main object of discussion was the work planning for joint tasks of the ECOVAL project and the activities related to the comprehensive urban organic waste management model and measurement of its social and legal impact; and the replicability and transfer of the business model and its environmental and economic assessment.

The city model of Toulouse, where the meeting was held, was also a case of study for the attendees because of its implementation of the bio-waste collection since 2019. Chloé Maisanno, head of the “Observatoire Régional des Déchets et de l’Economie Circulaire en Occitanie – ORDECO” (Regional Observatory of Waste and Circular Economy in Occitania) showed her interest in the development of the project and participated at the last session on Friday morning.

The participants concluded that the meetings were a success in achieving their objectives and took the opportunity to exchange results and approaches taken in each of the laboratories. A follow-up reunion will take place in October.