Bioremediation and biovalorisation of olive-mill wastes

Olive-mill wastes are produced by the industry of olive oil production, which is a very important economic activity, particularly for Spain, Italy and Greece, leading to a large environmental problem of current concern in the Mediterranean basin. There is as yet no accepted treatment method for all the wastes generated during olive oil production, mainly due to technical and economical limitations but also the scattered nature of olive mills across the Mediterranean basin. The production of virgin olive oil is expanding worldwide, which will lead to even larger amounts of olive-mill waste, unless new treatment and valorisation technologies are devised. These are encouraged by the trend of current environmental policies, which favour protocols that include valorisation of the waste. This makes biological treatments of particular interest. Thus, research into different biodegradation options for olive-mill wastes and the development of new bioremediation technologies and/or strategies, as well as the valorisation of microbial biotechnology, are all currently needed. This review, whilst presenting a general overview, focus critically on the most significant recent advances in the various types of biological treatments, the bioremediation technology most commonly applied and the valorisation options, which together will form the pillar for future developments within this fiel

Optimization of quality of charcoal for steelmaking using statistical analysis approach

Steel is one of the most important materials used in modern society. The majority of the steel produced today is based on the use of coke and contributes a lot to greenhouse gases emission. Many researchers have been laid on the possibility to replace part of the fossil-based energy source in iron making with renewable, biomass-derived reducing agent. The main problems of this replacement are some difference of in quality between coke and wood charcoal (more reactive, less strength and carbon content) It causes a little shutdown of production in blast furnace and additional cost to modify a furnace. The aim of this paper was to determine in a statistical manner how carbonizations parameters impact the charcoal quality, especially reactivity and mechanical parameter. We applied a random factorial design and used the General linear System procedure to perform the statistical analysis. The experimental study was carried out using Eucalyptus Urophylla and Eucalyptus Camadulensis wood and involved two carbonization temperature (350 and 600°C), two relative working pressure (2 and 6 bars) and two heating rates (1 and 5°C/min). Six response variables were analyzed and discussed following a random factorial design: the charcoal yield 61, j char), the fixed carbon content (C1), the bulk density (D), the compressive strength (Rm), friability (F) and the reactivity (R) of charcoal. Except for the friability of charcoal, all other property are well correlate with carbonization parameter. In the range of low carbonisation parameter, reactivity of charcoal is affected only by carbonization temperature. (Résumé d'auteur

Sustainable valorisation of organic urban wastes : insights from African case studies

Understanding the problems and potentials of the organic waste stream is perhaps the single most important step that city authorities in Africa could take in moving towards sustainable, affordable, effective and efficient waste management. This publication presents four examples of recent attempts to manage organic waste sustainably in the African context. The participants in the ‘Nairobi organic urban waste’ project have structured this case exercise in order to use the case studies as object lessons, to harvest genuine insights into the feasibility of a variety of ways to successfully and sustainably valorise urban organic waste streams. Three contemporary case examples of compost production are presented. These include composting by a community-based organisation in the Kenyan private sector and by a public-private partnership in Malawi. In all three cases, the project and case study focus is on the relations between city waste and the agricultural supply chain. A fourth case study describes the technical and economic potential to produce and use biogas from urban organic waste

Sustainable Materialization of Residues from Thermal Processes into Products (SMaRT-Pro²).

Sustainable use of solid residues and carbon dioxide, the two largest and most important waste products from thermal processes, is an urgent issue both for the industry involved and society as a whole, considering the financial and environmental repercussions of their production. This Knowledge Platform focuses on three types of waste-to-product valorisation: production of a carbon sink, construction materials, or sorbents. Thermal processes constitute a bulk activity in metals production, waste incineration, glass industry, etc. They generally produce major amounts of solid waste materials, such as slag and fly ash, containing oxides of silicon, calcium, magnesium, aluminium and iron, together with a multitude of heavy metals, chlorides and/or sulphates. Rising prices of raw materials and growing awareness for environmental issues lead to a change in perception of these materials from waste to a potential product. Thermal processes also generate a vast amount of carbon dioxide which they emit into the atmosphere. The discussion concerning carbon dioxide is evolving rapidly, but it is clear that the emission of this greenhouse gas will become ever more regulated in the future. Mineral carbon sequestration is currently mainly investigated on primary materials such as olivine and serpentine. Sequestration in alkaline waste materials, however, provides an interesting alternative because of high reactivity, on-site production and low cost. In addition, the reaction with carbon dioxide stabilizes the waste materials and often improves environmental properties. The concept of producing construction materials from waste materials is only slowly coming of age despite the obvious benefit of transforming low-cost input materials into potentially high-value products. The production of another high-value product, a sorbent to remove pollutants from liquid streams, has only very recently been investigated for some of the waste materials studied in this project, and is a promising industrial application for in-house treatment of waste streams. A successful approach requires a broad consortium with relevant expertise for the scientific investigation, but which at the same time can be easily tailored to a particular valorisation option that emerges. The Platform aims at this dual objective by bringing together all expertise involved and by focusing on the challenging aim of valorising solid materials and/or carbon dioxide in high-value products by intensified processes and with clear prospects on the economic and legislative feasibility, ecological benefits and societal relevance.Waste valorisation; Sustainability;

WoodCircus, Underpinning the vital role of the forest-based sector in the Circular Bioeconomy. D2.2 Resource Efficiency, Side Streams and Value Chain Analysis – WP2 Final Report

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Used-tyres reverse logistic networks in Spain: a global approach.

- Garage repair shop = Responsibility of End-of-use tyres (EUT). Cost and Management - Waste = Limited interest, Undeveloped valorisation market. - Alternatives = Retreading, special sales. - Dumping sites = (Legal and Illegal ones

The recycling of OMC's carbon reinforcement by solvolysing thermoset matrix. A way of sustainability for composites.

Originally developed for high-tech applications, carbon fibre/thermoset matrix composites have been increasingly used in leisure and sports industries, for several years. But the carbon reinforcement is the most expensive constituent, and also the most environmentally impacting in the elaboration of a composite part. To this day, no end-of-life solution or recycling process efficiently exists. This paper aims at demonstrating that recovering the carbon reinforcement is possible, technically and economically speaking. Moreover, it is particularly the basis for a life cycle analysis that assesses benefits and environmental challenges of this recycling loop based on the reinforcement recovery by a solvolysis of the organic matrix. Lastly, the lack of data to consider the better end-of-life option (reuse, recycling, energy recovery and material valorisation) will be underlined