28-29 June 2012 ATHENS2012 Conference “Best practices for Agricultural Wastes (AW) treatment and...

28-29 June 2012ATHENS2012 Conference

“Best practices for Agricultural Wastes (AW) treatment and reuse in the Mediterranean countries (WasteReuse)”, www.wastereuse.eu

Duration 01/09/11 - 31/08/15

Co-funded by LIFE+ Environment Policy and Governance, LIFE10 ENV/GR/594

K. Komnitsas, D. Zaharaki, M.T. Hernández, J.L. Moreno Ortego, C.G. Izquierdo, F. Tinivella, G. Minuto, L. Medini, D. Micharikopoulos and E. Tavlaki


Coordinating Beneficiary: Technical University Crete (TUC), www.mred.tuc.gr/p013215_UK.htm

Coordinator: Prof. Kostas Komnitsas, email [email protected]

Associated Beneficiaries:

- Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CEBAS-CSIC), Murcia, Spain, www.cebas.csic.es

- Center for Agricultural Experimentation and Assistance (CERSAA), Albenga, Italy, www.cersaa.it

- Chemical Laboratory of the Chamber of Commerce of Savona (Laboratorio Chimico CCIAA), Albenga, Italy

- Signosis Sprl., Brussels, Belgium, www.signosis.eu

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Why treatment and reuse of AW is required?

AW are produced in huge quantities (olive oil mill wastewaters, wine, swine and other animal waste, rice straw and various other AW)

AW have a high content of recalcitrant compounds and are characterized as potentially hazardous and toxic when disposed untreated on soil or in water bodies

If reused valuable by-products can be produced eg. compost

Other benefits include reduction of raw materials use (eg. phosphates for fertilizers), carbon footprint and environmental risk as well as water savings (irrigation)

Practice towards “zero waste” production


WasteReuse objectives

Evaluation of innovative/traditional technologies for AW treatment regarding their suitability for crop cultivation (irrigation and fertilization)

Development of Alternative Cultivation Practices for crops in Med by recycling nutrients and water from AW

Protection of soil quality from the disposal of treated and untreated AW

Reduction of carbon footprint by recycling AW and minimizing the use of fertilizers - Conservation of natural resources

Increasing competiveness of Med agricultural products & profits via the reduction of external inputs (irrigation water, fertilizers)

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Expected results 1

Create an inventory of all available technologies for AW treatment

Assess the effect of different AW applications on soil properties and plant growth using lab and field tests

Assess the risk as well as the carbon footprint of the proposed methodologies through LCA studies

Develop a Code of Best Waste Management Practices in agriculture and provide decision-making tools for the most commonly cultivated crops in the Mediterranean region

5


Provide guidelines for policy makers to conform to European legislation requirements

Develop a network involving research organizations, agricultural associations, SMEs, regional/national authorities and policy makers

Develop an after Life Communication Plan to maximize dissemination of results after the end of the project

Expected results 2

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Action Beneficiary1. Project Management TUC 2. Initial assessment of existing AW treatment technologies TUC 3. Development of alternative agricultural practises-Lab

experiments (Spain)CEBAS

4. Development of alternative agricultural practises-Lab experiments (Italy)

CCIAA

5. Demonstration-Spain CEBAS 6. Demonstration-Italy CERSAA 7. LCA and Risk Analysis TUC 8. Use of treated AW in agriculture – Terms and conditions Signosis Sprl. 9. Dissemination Signosis Sprl. 10. Networking Signosis Sprl. 11. Project Monitoring TUC 12. After-LIFE communication plan Signosis Sprl.

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WasteReuse Actions 1

Actions 1 and 11 (project management and monitoring, respectively) provide guidelines in order to complete the project on time and within budget

Action 2: Collection of all available data regarding funded projects focused on the development/application of technologies for the treatment of AW produced in the Mediterranean region

Actions 3 & 4: Lab experiments to evaluate AW effect on soil properties and assess their suitability for crop production and improvement of quality


Pot cultivation of sage

Pot cultivation of thyme

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Cyclamen cultivation in CERSAA’s greenhouse

Cultivations in open field

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Actions 5 & 6 will demonstrate the feasibility of the application of treated wastes in open field and greenhouses cultivations

Action 7: Life Cycle Analysis in terms of raw materials consumption, energy use and emissions - Risk Analysis regarding phytotoxicity and impacts on soil and water

Action 8: Development of a Code of Waste Management Best Practices for agricultural application, by integrating the outcomes of all previous Actions



Dissemination activities (Action 9) will be implemented during the entire project life and include numerous actions

Networking between scientific/research, industry/market and policy makers’ communities (Action 10) to disseminate effectively the innovative approaches developed by the project

In the line of Action 12, an after-LIFE communication plan will be developed


Progress so far

Evaluation of available technologies for AW treatment

Characterization of soils and treated/untreated waste for crop cultivation

Dissemination activities

Networking


Evaluation of available technologies for AW treatment

A total of 49 funded projects regarding technologies developed/implemented for the treatment of the most important AW, have been identified

Comprehensive inventory (grouped by type of waste, level of development and coordinating country)

Preliminary techno-economical and environmental evaluation using technical, environmental, economical and socio-cultural indicators


Characterization of soils

Soils from agricultural Spanish (11), Italian (14) and Greek areas (10) have been characterized

Parameters such as pH, EC, CEC, TOC, etc. have been determined

Most soils are calcareous, their pH ranges between 7.3 - 8.4, the heavy metal content is very low and most other main soil parameters are quite similar

Two Spanish and two Italian soils of different texture have been selected for the experiments in Actions 3 and 4


Characterization of treated/untreated waste

The wastes collected so far in Spain and Italy include olive mill wastewaters , composts from various organic waste, domestic organic waste, sheep manure, treated sewage sludge etc.

Phytotoxicity tests are carried out by - CEBAS using plants of agricultural importance for Spain- CCIAA and CERSAA using cress (Lepidium sativum) which

is commonly used in Italy


Effect of 3% v/v diluted waste on germination index of cress seeds - phytotoxicity test

(A, B, E, F, G, M, N: olive oil mill wastewater, C, D: compost from organic waste, H, I: green compost from organic waste, L: mixed compost from

organic waste, O: rice hull, P: olive husk)

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

A B C D E F G H I L M N O P

Ger

min

ation

inde

x %

Waste


Dissemination activities 1

Dissemination strategy plan

Well designed website (www.wastereuse.eu) in English, Greek, Spanish, Italian and French including forums, blog and also partners’ area

Project “diary” where all Beneficiaries report their activities

Newsletters with the most important news and results, published every six months

Project leaflets and posters in five languages


Dissemination activities 2

A press release was sent by TUC to newspapers circulated in each region of Crete; an article presenting project’s objectives and progress so far was published on April 14, 2012 in the local newspaper “Haniotika Nea” of Hania, Crete, Greece

The WasteReuse project was presented by coordinator in a seminar organized by Istanbul Medeniyet University on May 16, 2012 in Istanbul, Turkey

The results of the project will be also disseminated through scientific publications in international peer-reviewed journals and participation in conferences


Networking

Three different societal parts (scientific/research, industry/market and policy makers’ communities) will be reached and informed about project results

A database with members from international agricultural organizations, European Ministries of Agriculture, SMEs involved in fertilizer production and waste management etc. is being prepared


Conclusion

The WasteReuse project aims to evaluate innovative/traditional technologies for AW treatment in terms of their suitability for crop cultivation and develop alternative cultivation practices

A website in five languages has been developed

Data regarding development/implementation of treatment technologies for Med AW have been evaluated using indicators

Spanish, Italian and Greek soils have been characterized

Phytotoxicity tests are under way using different AW; results so far show that the yield of the crops studied may be enhanced when appropriate application rates are used


Project coordinator:Technical University of Crete

Dpt Mineral Resources EngineeringResearch unit “Management of mining / metallurgical wastes and rehabilitation of contaminated

soils”www.mred.tuc.gr/p013215_UK.htm

Thank you !

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WasteReuse project, LIFE10 ENV/GR/594www.wastereuse.eu 01/09/11 - 31/08/15

28-29 June 2012 ATHENS2012 Conference “Best practices for Agricultural Wastes (AW) treatment and...

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