FERTILWASTES

Description

The FERTILWASTES project is carried out in the POCTEFA territory (Spain, France, Andorra), an area with a high agricultural and industrial potential, which generates large volumes of organic waste. In addition, the uneven distribution of nutrient loads in agricultural areas, together with the nutrients overload in many cases, leads to environmental issues that require costly remediation treatments.

The existing conventional waste treatment systems, such as anaerobic digestion and composting, produce coproducts with agronomic value, but with deficient characteristics for an optimal agricultural use. In parallel, new technologies are arising for the valorisation of biomass and liquid effluents, such as pyrolysis and microalgae cultivation. All coproducts generated by these technologies (digestate, compost, biochar, microalgae) present an agronomic interest but with low economic value.

FERTILWASTES aims at creating and producing, from those coproducts, innovative products for agriculture (slow release biofertilizers, biostimulants, and biodegradable horticultural pots) with higher added value.

Objectives

The aim of FERTILWASTES is to enhance the valorisation of coproducts from organic waste treatment systems into innovative agricultural products with high added value. This purpose is achieved through the following objectives:

• Identify sources of coproducts in the POCTEFA area.
• Assess the valorisation of those coproducts into innovative agricultural products (slow release biofertilizers, biostimulants, and biodegradable horticultural pots).
• Test and validate the performance of the innovative agricultural products.
• Assess the economic, environmental and social sustainability.
• Identify sources of coproducts in the POCTEFA area.

Impact

The innovative concepts developed in the project will contribute to the strengthening of territories and the promotion of a more environmentally-friendly agriculture. The project will provide technical guidance needed to formulate and standardize competitive innovative products, which will then have regional distribution and transcendence beyond the POCTEFA territory.

Funded by: EU – Interreg POCTEFA

Duration: June 2021 – May 2022