Final Report Summary - APTAR (Global solution for slaughterhouses, tanneries and phytosanitary sectors: treatment of category 3 animal wastes and production high value product ...)
Eleven work packages (WPs) have been established for achieving the general objectives of the project.
During the first months of the project, representative category 3 'Animal by products' (C3 ABPs) has been identified and collected from different slaughterhouses, in order to characterise them and select he most optimum ones (WP1), establishing the best technical and economic conditions for pre-treating them before being submitted to biohydrolysis (WP2).
ABPs were submitted to several biohydrolysis assays at laboratory level determining the most optimum biohydrolysis protocol for every kind of sample using different microorganism and strategies (individual, combined and sequential). All digested samples and residues obtained in the different biohydrolysis approaches were properly characterised (WP3).
The biostimulant and biopesticide effects of the hydrolised products have been tested in germination and plant's growth, microcosms and microbial and fungi assays at laboratory level, looking also for the potential use in agriculture of non-hydrolysed residues as soil improver, in soil enrichment assays degradation assays (WP4).
These bioproducts obtained (hydrolyzed fraction and residue) were also assayed under real condition at field level with different plants, type of soils and with different sanitary conditions. The crop's yield and properties of plants and soils treated with APTAR's products have been properly analyzed, determining their biostimulanting and biopesticed properties compared with current phytosanitary products (WP5).
A semi-scale bioreactor of 5 l was designed, constructed and installed, where several biohydrolysis assays have been performed to optimise the technique. A simple and cheap biohydrolysis protocol to degrade all C3 ABP was established, improving the yield of the process and the characteristics of the products obtained (WP7).
A technically viable and economically feasible prototype of 1600 l has been designed and constructed, installing it in a mobile container for in-situ demonstrations. After optimise the proper working of all its components individually and together, different biohydrolysis assays at industrial level have been carried out in this prototype, optimising the amount of animal by-products to be hydrolyzed in relation to the energy and water consumed and demonstrating the whole viability of the process (WP8).
Meat and phytosanitary sector small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and SME- associations / groupings (AGs) has been informed about APTAR project and trained to achieve an optimum application of the technology and derived results. Training documents and Sensibilisation and Technical Workshops have been carried out in Brussels, Spain and Bulgaria within WP9.
APTAR project and the main results achieved have been widely disseminated at internal and external level in http//:www.zurkoresearch.com/aptar , press, events, etc., being their exploitation agreed among all partners (WP10).
The main outputs generated in the different activities of the project have been economically analyzed in order to determine the feasibility of their implementation in SMEs and current markets WP11.
Project context and objectives:
When APTAR started, meat sector companies were going through a difficult situation due to strict and expensive safety and quality controls established in European regulation (EC) 1774/2002 to prevent health and sanitary risks concerning the elimination of ABPs.
Nowadays, and despite the effort made worldwide to develop new methods for disposing and valorising ABPs, some of the 15 300 million tons processed in Europe every year, still cause a negative impact on the environment and/or human and animal health if the management method is improper and they are not revaluated, implying also high economic costs that are not offset by current alternatives (incineration, dumping, pet food production, transformation into biogas or compost, etc.).
By other side, although the progressive restriction of chemical fertilise rs and pesticides has not changes since the beginning of the project and many hazard chemical products have been removed from the market, their use is still widespread going on polluting soils and water.
Therefore their substitution by new bioproducts is still necessary, although their low availability and their high cost do not favour this substitution being necessary to look for new environmental-friendly products to be introduced in phytosanitay market and substitute harmful classical products.
For all these reasons, APTAR proposal arrive just in the right moment, when economic feasible and easy to implement alternatives are still demanded by meat sector and legal framework is becoming more flexible due to the entering into force of the new regulation (EC) No. 1069/2009 and (EU) No. 142/2011, that allow the authorisation of novel technologies which are being developed as alternative methods for the disposal or use of animal by-products throughout the community if it is demonstrated that they offer advantageous ways for the safe disposal of ABPs.
APTAR Project tackles the elimination of C3 ABPs from a cost-effective, innovative and environmental friendly point of view, trying to solve the problem of this sector with two technical strategies:
1) development of a cost-effective biotechnological method to degrade C3 ABPs by using microorganism;
2) introduction of the derived products from the over mentioned method in the phytosanitary sector to be used as biopesticides in agriculture.
Working together SMEs of meat and phytosanitay sectors could offer an alternative to transform the ABPs, overcoming not only the difficult situation of meat companies, but also the phytosanitary sector will be favoured because of the introduction of valuable products that could be used as substitute of chemical pesticides and amendments in agriculture.
Project results:
The APTAR project has achieved all the scientific and technological target objectives established at begin of the activities.
By WPs, the main results achieved has been the following:
WP1: Collection and analysis of samples
66.8 Kg of five different types of ABP from four different animal species has been collected and analyzed, elaborating a waste properties database containing all the samples and parameters analyzed. Five types of ABPs have been selected instead of the four initially planned: flesh, hides and skins, hooves and horns, bristle and feathers and blood. More samples than initially planned have been collected in order to increase the statistical significance of the results and to feed the pilot plant.
WP2: Pre-treatment of samples
The physic-chemical characteristics and microbiological content of all the samples has been determined. Bearing in mind technical, legal and economic aspects, the pre-treatment needed to prepare ABP for the biohydrolysis have been established.
WP3: Biohydrolysis of samples
The most optimum biohydrolysis protocol for every kind of sample has been selected. Non-hydrolysed residues' potential use in agriculture has been evaluated. Physic-chemical parameters and the biochemical activity of hydrolysed samples obtained have been analyzed and reported.
WP4: Laboratory experiments with plants
- Determination of hydrolysate dosage to achieve biostimulant and bipesticide effects.
- Evaluation of the biostimulant effect in two plants and five soils.
- Evaluation of the biopesticide effect in two plants with two pathogens.
WP5: Field experiments
- Design of field experiments.
- Performance of preliminary field experiments and achievement of positive results.
- Determination of the biostimulating and biopesticide properties of hydrolysed products.
- Determination of the amendment effect of residues obtained in the process.
WP7: Scaling-up of bio-hydrolysis
- Optimisation of the parameter that affect the biohydrolysis process solving contamination problems.
- Establishment of a technically and economically viable biohydrolysis protocol to degrade all kind of C3 ABP, improving the yield of the process and the characteristics of the products obtained.
WP8: Implementation of biohydrolysis into SMEs
- Design of a technically viable and economically feasible full-scale prototype.
- Construction and installation of an economic and technically viable semi-industrial prototype.
- Performance of experiments at industrial level to optimise the process and enable their implementation.
- Generation of hydrolysed products and residues for field experiments
WP9. Training activities
- Unification of samples management and collection criteria.
- Sensibilisation about the problematic and current regulation targeted by APTAR project of 52 representatives of 30 associated of AIICPA, UECBV and BGA, APTAR's partners, as well as representatives of public institutions, individual farmers and other SMEs.
- Information of meat sector SMEs about first results reached and evaluation of the level of interests awaked among these companies.
- Information of phytosanitary sector SMEs about the experiments carried out and main results reached at laboratory and field level regarding the application of the products of the biohdyrolysis on plants and soils. All of them were informed about the economic evaluation of products commercialisation.
- Training of phytosanitary SMEs to carry out the foreseen tasks.
- Meat sector partners were informed about the prototype operation and its economic benefits.
WP10: Exploitation and dissemination activities
- The launching event and the press release in the meat sector magazine have given awareness of the project in specialised sectors.
- The easy to understand way in which information of the project is presented in the web page, as well as, in the dissemination documents elaborated, helps people not involved in the project to be aware about it.
- Fluent and frequent internal communication among partners.
- Four public documents for national and European dissemination.
- The potential use of APTAR technology and products was presented to a wide public during the last meeting of the project.
- Agreement about how to exploit APTAR results and planning the main dissemination activities to be carried out.
- Public dissemination of the project via web.
- Information of all APTAR partners about the main results achieved so far in the two research areas.
- Dissemination of APTAR project among international scientific experts.
- Dissemination among the general public and enterprises.
- APTAR was described in several videos with promotional purposes.
- The dissemination of the second versions of the leaflets has allowed exhibiting the implication that results will have in involved sectors.
- APTAR final results were disseminated among the main actors related with ABPs management.
WP11: Economic analysis
- Identification and evaluation of the main cost and benefits obtained from the implementation of APTAR technology and commerzialisation of the products obtained, and study their potential success in the meat and phytosanitary market as well as the most suitable way of exploit them.
WP6: Contingency plan
- A higher amount of samples has been collected and the types of samples have been increased.
- Improvement of the technical and economical feasibility of the bio-hydrolysis process.
- The biohydrolysis process has been optimised selecting proper microorganisms and the most optimum biohydrolysis procedure
- Final results will fit to the reality of each country.
- Increase of the typology of samples to work within the pilot plant (blend of samples).
- More people than expected in the foreseen dates attended the delayed Workshops.
- All the partners have received all the documents produced on time and four documents are available for public dissemination.
- Two new partners with a similar profile to the outgoing ones have replaced them, taking over all their responsibilities and budget.
- Improvement of project results concerning the future implementation of the biohydrolysis process.
- Performance of field experiments without waiting for the prototype constructions.
- Optimisation of the energy costs and amount
All previous results can be summarised in the following ones:
As results of the abovementioned work, at the end of the project, the following results have been achieved:
- characterisation of C3 ABPs and establishment of the most optimum pre-treatment process;
- biohydrolysis procedure for disposing C3 ABP by means of microorganism and proteases, with an average yield of 50 % in a process of 2 - 3 days;
- mobile prototype available for trials 'in-situ'at real scale, that will facilitate the implementation of the process.
- bioproducts obtained with proved effect at laboratory and field level:
i. hydrolysed portion rich in sulphur Aa with bioestimulant and biocontrol effects over plants;
ii. dolid residues obtained in the industrial process with properties as soil recovery and carbon fixer;
- Establishment of protocols to train SMEs in the collection and handle of ABPs and in the performance of field experiments and information and transference of results, how to use then and their economic rentability by means of sensibilisation workshops and technical workshops,
- Dissemination of results at internal and external level by means of the web platform, communication documents, public events, press releases, etc., and establishment of how to exploit the results generated among the member of the consortium.
- Determination of the economic feasibility of the whole process to valorise the most suitable way of exploit the technology and products generated.
The project foreground to be exploited defined as products are 'processes' i.e. the biotechnological process to treat C3 ABPs, 'prototype' i.e. the proper full-scale equipment necessary to apply the process, and 'derived bioproducts' i.e. the bioproducts obtained after the application of the process.
The assets that will be produced during the project will be the subject of exploitation and are the following:
a. biohydrolysis procedure to dispose and use C3 ABP, which degrades them by means of microorganism and proteases;
b. full-scale prototype equipment for performing biohydrolysis;
c. derived bioproducts: hydrolysed solution and residue generated after the biohydrolysis
Potential impact:
If the biotechnological method developed in APTAR project to degrade C3 ABP was implemented in meat sector SMEs and the bioproducts obtained in this process were used in the phytosanitary sector, both sectors, meat and phytosanitary, would obtain the following benefits at economic, legal and environmental level:
Economic
- Low cost process with high added value results.
- New source of incomes by means of the revalorisation of C3 ABPs increasing their added value after the treatment.
- Reduction or elimination of C3 ABPs management costs.
- Organic fertilise rs or soil improvers can be placed on a phytosanitary market where these harmful chemical products are being more and more forbidden because of their environment hazardous effects, being on line with European phytosanitary regulation (200/60/EC, COM/2002/179, 91/414/EEC)
SMEs
- Increase of employment through the increase of meat sector profitability and competitiveness.
- Diversification of phytosanitary' market by introducing new environmental friendly bioproduct.
- Development of a new business line for waste management companies.
- Diversification of phytosanitary' market by introducing new environmental friendly bioproduct.
Legal
- The technology proposed will allow meat sector companies to aaccomplish with recent new regulation (EC) No 1069/2009 and (EU) No. 142/2011 concerning the processing of ABP, reducing the pollution of a sector needed of new feasible and viable alternatives.
- Accomplishment with phytosanitary regulation (200/60/EC, COM/2002/179, 91/414/EEC).
- The technology proposed and the products generated are on line with two of the seven thematic strategies of the 6EAP, the wastes prevention and recycling strategy, since APTAR achieves a zero waste cycle that enhances the recycling of ABP versus landfill practices (helping to reach the established 10 % landfill reduction), and the pesticides strategy, minimising the hazards and risks to health and environment from the use of pesticides, thanks to their substitution for organic products.
Environmental
- One million tonnes of proteinaceaous ABP disposed annually by the European leather industry to landfill, could be significantly reduced and/or the 15 300 million tons of animal by-products produced throughout the community every year, especially for those category 3 by-products that are difficult to deal with current methodologies, could be treated in an environmental friendly way.
- Reduction of the 170 million hectares treated by nitrates in Europe, decreasing of requirement of phytotoxic treatments, by the use or organic products.
- New biotechnological method that will reduce the pollution derived from C3 APB disposal, by means of a proper management and valorisation of these by-products.
- Reduction of pollution thanks to the substitution of classical agrochemical for environmental friendly bioproducts.
- Save carbon emission: the biohydrolysis process does not emit toxic gases and transport of ABP from meat companies to rendering plants could be avoided.
Social
- Increase of employment through the increase of meat sector profitability and competitiveness and new business lines in the phytosanitary market.
- Reduction of human and animal disease risks: for instance reducing toxicity for workers who handle pesticides.
Dissemination activities and the exploitation of resutls.
All the exploitation and dissemination activities at internal and external level carried out has been as described below:
- Exploitation: The results reached have been technically and economically evaluated and reported in deliverables.
An exploitation meeting was held two months behind schedule coinciding with the holding of the second annual meeting, on February 2011 (month 26), in order to save travel costs. During this meeting, SMEs and associations gave their opinion concerning the exploitable criteria to be bear in mind regarding, the legal and/or other limitations for the future implementation of the results and the target groups to be identified. The project coordinator established an exploitation agreement bearing in mind partners' suggestion, defining the property of results, licenses and sublicenses of exploitation and its conditions. The agreement was review and accepted by all partners who reported it in the second version of the plan for using and dissemination of the foreground (PUFD2).
Bearing in mind the support offered by specialise layers and after consulting the specific helpdesk service of the EC for intellectual property rights (IPR) aspects, the exploitation agreement was modified and adapted to the suggestion offered by the those entities consulted.
In parallel, bilateral meetings among the project coordinator and APTAR's associations and among the own SMEs-AGS have been held in order to discus different aspects concerning the property, exploitation and protection of APTAR results.
These questions were also discussed during APTAR final meeting, elaborating the definitive version of the exploitation agreement that was reviewed and signed by all partner and included in the final version of the PUDF3.
- Dissemination:
External:
1. Web platform (see http//:www.zurkoresearch.com/aptar/ online) containing easy to understand general information of the project, public documents and events offered to the public audience produced and activated during the fifth month of the project.
2. Launching event to disseminate information of APTAR initiative held on 16 February (month 2) in Noreña (Asturias) and Closure event addressed to UECBV members, stakeholders, representatives of Commission services and companies, held in Brussels (Belgium) on 22 May 2012, where the technical results of the biohdyrolysis process, the agricultural application of the products obtained and the benefits for SMEs implementing APTAR were presented and discussed.
3. A press release was published in the meat sector magazine EUROCARNE on its digital version of 25 June 2009 and the launching event was widely disseminated among the general public in different media. APTAR was also published in newspaper 'La Verdad', economic digital newspaper 'Empresa Exterior', innovation, technology and science plan of Murcia Region 2011 - 2014, in the European research area of Asturias region economic development institute (IDEPA), in the technology marketplace of the EC's official information service for research and development and in the Youtube TV documental 'Ecoinnnova'
4. A summary of APTAR project written in an accessible style for non-specialist have been elaborated and translated into English, French, Bulgarian and Spanish, which enabled to use it for the general public of every country involved.
5. Attendance to congresses: After elaborating an abstract of APTAR project that was reviewed and approved by all partners, CEBAS-CSIC submitted it to the '26th International Conference on Solid Waste Technology and Management' that was be held in Philadelphia (EE.UU) on 27 - 30 March 2011, where APTAR project was orally disseminated.
6. Leaflets: On month 18, three internal leaflets (two for meat and one for phytosanitary sector) were elaborated by UECBV, AIICPA and BGA in English and their national languages (French, Spanish and Bulgarian). These leaflets were decided to be used as an external dissemination tool in order to exhibit the objectives and implications of APTAR results in involved sectors, reaching a higher dissemination level than using it just for internal use. The second and definitive version of the three leaflets (two for meat sector and one for phytosanitary sector) were elaborated by UECBV, AIICPA and BGA in English and their national languages (French, Spanish and Bulgarian) updating results concerning the prototype installed and field assays. These leaflets were compiled in D17.2 and used in any training and/or dissemination activity organised. Availability of a dissemination document that could be delivered among target groups for exhibit APTAR results and the implications in involved sector.
7. Audiovisual material: APTAR project was described in different videos related with the I+D projects
Internal:
1. The private section of the web page was activated on month 17 and updated with all internal information elaborated, being all partners continuously informed about the project status.
2. The project presentation was elaborated in month 6 as D14 'Summary of APTAR project' to be used for external dissemination, allowing to have a document for public dissemination since the first months of the project.
3. Internal e-bulleting: a first internal e-bulleting was elaborated on the development and the progressing results achievements in the two research areas, being all partners properly informed about APTAR results. The second version of the internal e-bulleting that was internally delivered among partners.
During the first months of the project, representative category 3 'Animal by products' (C3 ABPs) has been identified and collected from different slaughterhouses, in order to characterise them and select he most optimum ones (WP1), establishing the best technical and economic conditions for pre-treating them before being submitted to biohydrolysis (WP2).
ABPs were submitted to several biohydrolysis assays at laboratory level determining the most optimum biohydrolysis protocol for every kind of sample using different microorganism and strategies (individual, combined and sequential). All digested samples and residues obtained in the different biohydrolysis approaches were properly characterised (WP3).
The biostimulant and biopesticide effects of the hydrolised products have been tested in germination and plant's growth, microcosms and microbial and fungi assays at laboratory level, looking also for the potential use in agriculture of non-hydrolysed residues as soil improver, in soil enrichment assays degradation assays (WP4).
These bioproducts obtained (hydrolyzed fraction and residue) were also assayed under real condition at field level with different plants, type of soils and with different sanitary conditions. The crop's yield and properties of plants and soils treated with APTAR's products have been properly analyzed, determining their biostimulanting and biopesticed properties compared with current phytosanitary products (WP5).
A semi-scale bioreactor of 5 l was designed, constructed and installed, where several biohydrolysis assays have been performed to optimise the technique. A simple and cheap biohydrolysis protocol to degrade all C3 ABP was established, improving the yield of the process and the characteristics of the products obtained (WP7).
A technically viable and economically feasible prototype of 1600 l has been designed and constructed, installing it in a mobile container for in-situ demonstrations. After optimise the proper working of all its components individually and together, different biohydrolysis assays at industrial level have been carried out in this prototype, optimising the amount of animal by-products to be hydrolyzed in relation to the energy and water consumed and demonstrating the whole viability of the process (WP8).
Meat and phytosanitary sector small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and SME- associations / groupings (AGs) has been informed about APTAR project and trained to achieve an optimum application of the technology and derived results. Training documents and Sensibilisation and Technical Workshops have been carried out in Brussels, Spain and Bulgaria within WP9.
APTAR project and the main results achieved have been widely disseminated at internal and external level in http//:www.zurkoresearch.com/aptar , press, events, etc., being their exploitation agreed among all partners (WP10).
The main outputs generated in the different activities of the project have been economically analyzed in order to determine the feasibility of their implementation in SMEs and current markets WP11.
Project context and objectives:
When APTAR started, meat sector companies were going through a difficult situation due to strict and expensive safety and quality controls established in European regulation (EC) 1774/2002 to prevent health and sanitary risks concerning the elimination of ABPs.
Nowadays, and despite the effort made worldwide to develop new methods for disposing and valorising ABPs, some of the 15 300 million tons processed in Europe every year, still cause a negative impact on the environment and/or human and animal health if the management method is improper and they are not revaluated, implying also high economic costs that are not offset by current alternatives (incineration, dumping, pet food production, transformation into biogas or compost, etc.).
By other side, although the progressive restriction of chemical fertilise rs and pesticides has not changes since the beginning of the project and many hazard chemical products have been removed from the market, their use is still widespread going on polluting soils and water.
Therefore their substitution by new bioproducts is still necessary, although their low availability and their high cost do not favour this substitution being necessary to look for new environmental-friendly products to be introduced in phytosanitay market and substitute harmful classical products.
For all these reasons, APTAR proposal arrive just in the right moment, when economic feasible and easy to implement alternatives are still demanded by meat sector and legal framework is becoming more flexible due to the entering into force of the new regulation (EC) No. 1069/2009 and (EU) No. 142/2011, that allow the authorisation of novel technologies which are being developed as alternative methods for the disposal or use of animal by-products throughout the community if it is demonstrated that they offer advantageous ways for the safe disposal of ABPs.
APTAR Project tackles the elimination of C3 ABPs from a cost-effective, innovative and environmental friendly point of view, trying to solve the problem of this sector with two technical strategies:
1) development of a cost-effective biotechnological method to degrade C3 ABPs by using microorganism;
2) introduction of the derived products from the over mentioned method in the phytosanitary sector to be used as biopesticides in agriculture.
Working together SMEs of meat and phytosanitay sectors could offer an alternative to transform the ABPs, overcoming not only the difficult situation of meat companies, but also the phytosanitary sector will be favoured because of the introduction of valuable products that could be used as substitute of chemical pesticides and amendments in agriculture.
Project results:
The APTAR project has achieved all the scientific and technological target objectives established at begin of the activities.
By WPs, the main results achieved has been the following:
WP1: Collection and analysis of samples
66.8 Kg of five different types of ABP from four different animal species has been collected and analyzed, elaborating a waste properties database containing all the samples and parameters analyzed. Five types of ABPs have been selected instead of the four initially planned: flesh, hides and skins, hooves and horns, bristle and feathers and blood. More samples than initially planned have been collected in order to increase the statistical significance of the results and to feed the pilot plant.
WP2: Pre-treatment of samples
The physic-chemical characteristics and microbiological content of all the samples has been determined. Bearing in mind technical, legal and economic aspects, the pre-treatment needed to prepare ABP for the biohydrolysis have been established.
WP3: Biohydrolysis of samples
The most optimum biohydrolysis protocol for every kind of sample has been selected. Non-hydrolysed residues' potential use in agriculture has been evaluated. Physic-chemical parameters and the biochemical activity of hydrolysed samples obtained have been analyzed and reported.
WP4: Laboratory experiments with plants
- Determination of hydrolysate dosage to achieve biostimulant and bipesticide effects.
- Evaluation of the biostimulant effect in two plants and five soils.
- Evaluation of the biopesticide effect in two plants with two pathogens.
WP5: Field experiments
- Design of field experiments.
- Performance of preliminary field experiments and achievement of positive results.
- Determination of the biostimulating and biopesticide properties of hydrolysed products.
- Determination of the amendment effect of residues obtained in the process.
WP7: Scaling-up of bio-hydrolysis
- Optimisation of the parameter that affect the biohydrolysis process solving contamination problems.
- Establishment of a technically and economically viable biohydrolysis protocol to degrade all kind of C3 ABP, improving the yield of the process and the characteristics of the products obtained.
WP8: Implementation of biohydrolysis into SMEs
- Design of a technically viable and economically feasible full-scale prototype.
- Construction and installation of an economic and technically viable semi-industrial prototype.
- Performance of experiments at industrial level to optimise the process and enable their implementation.
- Generation of hydrolysed products and residues for field experiments
WP9. Training activities
- Unification of samples management and collection criteria.
- Sensibilisation about the problematic and current regulation targeted by APTAR project of 52 representatives of 30 associated of AIICPA, UECBV and BGA, APTAR's partners, as well as representatives of public institutions, individual farmers and other SMEs.
- Information of meat sector SMEs about first results reached and evaluation of the level of interests awaked among these companies.
- Information of phytosanitary sector SMEs about the experiments carried out and main results reached at laboratory and field level regarding the application of the products of the biohdyrolysis on plants and soils. All of them were informed about the economic evaluation of products commercialisation.
- Training of phytosanitary SMEs to carry out the foreseen tasks.
- Meat sector partners were informed about the prototype operation and its economic benefits.
WP10: Exploitation and dissemination activities
- The launching event and the press release in the meat sector magazine have given awareness of the project in specialised sectors.
- The easy to understand way in which information of the project is presented in the web page, as well as, in the dissemination documents elaborated, helps people not involved in the project to be aware about it.
- Fluent and frequent internal communication among partners.
- Four public documents for national and European dissemination.
- The potential use of APTAR technology and products was presented to a wide public during the last meeting of the project.
- Agreement about how to exploit APTAR results and planning the main dissemination activities to be carried out.
- Public dissemination of the project via web.
- Information of all APTAR partners about the main results achieved so far in the two research areas.
- Dissemination of APTAR project among international scientific experts.
- Dissemination among the general public and enterprises.
- APTAR was described in several videos with promotional purposes.
- The dissemination of the second versions of the leaflets has allowed exhibiting the implication that results will have in involved sectors.
- APTAR final results were disseminated among the main actors related with ABPs management.
WP11: Economic analysis
- Identification and evaluation of the main cost and benefits obtained from the implementation of APTAR technology and commerzialisation of the products obtained, and study their potential success in the meat and phytosanitary market as well as the most suitable way of exploit them.
WP6: Contingency plan
- A higher amount of samples has been collected and the types of samples have been increased.
- Improvement of the technical and economical feasibility of the bio-hydrolysis process.
- The biohydrolysis process has been optimised selecting proper microorganisms and the most optimum biohydrolysis procedure
- Final results will fit to the reality of each country.
- Increase of the typology of samples to work within the pilot plant (blend of samples).
- More people than expected in the foreseen dates attended the delayed Workshops.
- All the partners have received all the documents produced on time and four documents are available for public dissemination.
- Two new partners with a similar profile to the outgoing ones have replaced them, taking over all their responsibilities and budget.
- Improvement of project results concerning the future implementation of the biohydrolysis process.
- Performance of field experiments without waiting for the prototype constructions.
- Optimisation of the energy costs and amount
All previous results can be summarised in the following ones:
As results of the abovementioned work, at the end of the project, the following results have been achieved:
- characterisation of C3 ABPs and establishment of the most optimum pre-treatment process;
- biohydrolysis procedure for disposing C3 ABP by means of microorganism and proteases, with an average yield of 50 % in a process of 2 - 3 days;
- mobile prototype available for trials 'in-situ'at real scale, that will facilitate the implementation of the process.
- bioproducts obtained with proved effect at laboratory and field level:
i. hydrolysed portion rich in sulphur Aa with bioestimulant and biocontrol effects over plants;
ii. dolid residues obtained in the industrial process with properties as soil recovery and carbon fixer;
- Establishment of protocols to train SMEs in the collection and handle of ABPs and in the performance of field experiments and information and transference of results, how to use then and their economic rentability by means of sensibilisation workshops and technical workshops,
- Dissemination of results at internal and external level by means of the web platform, communication documents, public events, press releases, etc., and establishment of how to exploit the results generated among the member of the consortium.
- Determination of the economic feasibility of the whole process to valorise the most suitable way of exploit the technology and products generated.
The project foreground to be exploited defined as products are 'processes' i.e. the biotechnological process to treat C3 ABPs, 'prototype' i.e. the proper full-scale equipment necessary to apply the process, and 'derived bioproducts' i.e. the bioproducts obtained after the application of the process.
The assets that will be produced during the project will be the subject of exploitation and are the following:
a. biohydrolysis procedure to dispose and use C3 ABP, which degrades them by means of microorganism and proteases;
b. full-scale prototype equipment for performing biohydrolysis;
c. derived bioproducts: hydrolysed solution and residue generated after the biohydrolysis
Potential impact:
If the biotechnological method developed in APTAR project to degrade C3 ABP was implemented in meat sector SMEs and the bioproducts obtained in this process were used in the phytosanitary sector, both sectors, meat and phytosanitary, would obtain the following benefits at economic, legal and environmental level:
Economic
- Low cost process with high added value results.
- New source of incomes by means of the revalorisation of C3 ABPs increasing their added value after the treatment.
- Reduction or elimination of C3 ABPs management costs.
- Organic fertilise rs or soil improvers can be placed on a phytosanitary market where these harmful chemical products are being more and more forbidden because of their environment hazardous effects, being on line with European phytosanitary regulation (200/60/EC, COM/2002/179, 91/414/EEC)
SMEs
- Increase of employment through the increase of meat sector profitability and competitiveness.
- Diversification of phytosanitary' market by introducing new environmental friendly bioproduct.
- Development of a new business line for waste management companies.
- Diversification of phytosanitary' market by introducing new environmental friendly bioproduct.
Legal
- The technology proposed will allow meat sector companies to aaccomplish with recent new regulation (EC) No 1069/2009 and (EU) No. 142/2011 concerning the processing of ABP, reducing the pollution of a sector needed of new feasible and viable alternatives.
- Accomplishment with phytosanitary regulation (200/60/EC, COM/2002/179, 91/414/EEC).
- The technology proposed and the products generated are on line with two of the seven thematic strategies of the 6EAP, the wastes prevention and recycling strategy, since APTAR achieves a zero waste cycle that enhances the recycling of ABP versus landfill practices (helping to reach the established 10 % landfill reduction), and the pesticides strategy, minimising the hazards and risks to health and environment from the use of pesticides, thanks to their substitution for organic products.
Environmental
- One million tonnes of proteinaceaous ABP disposed annually by the European leather industry to landfill, could be significantly reduced and/or the 15 300 million tons of animal by-products produced throughout the community every year, especially for those category 3 by-products that are difficult to deal with current methodologies, could be treated in an environmental friendly way.
- Reduction of the 170 million hectares treated by nitrates in Europe, decreasing of requirement of phytotoxic treatments, by the use or organic products.
- New biotechnological method that will reduce the pollution derived from C3 APB disposal, by means of a proper management and valorisation of these by-products.
- Reduction of pollution thanks to the substitution of classical agrochemical for environmental friendly bioproducts.
- Save carbon emission: the biohydrolysis process does not emit toxic gases and transport of ABP from meat companies to rendering plants could be avoided.
Social
- Increase of employment through the increase of meat sector profitability and competitiveness and new business lines in the phytosanitary market.
- Reduction of human and animal disease risks: for instance reducing toxicity for workers who handle pesticides.
Dissemination activities and the exploitation of resutls.
All the exploitation and dissemination activities at internal and external level carried out has been as described below:
- Exploitation: The results reached have been technically and economically evaluated and reported in deliverables.
An exploitation meeting was held two months behind schedule coinciding with the holding of the second annual meeting, on February 2011 (month 26), in order to save travel costs. During this meeting, SMEs and associations gave their opinion concerning the exploitable criteria to be bear in mind regarding, the legal and/or other limitations for the future implementation of the results and the target groups to be identified. The project coordinator established an exploitation agreement bearing in mind partners' suggestion, defining the property of results, licenses and sublicenses of exploitation and its conditions. The agreement was review and accepted by all partners who reported it in the second version of the plan for using and dissemination of the foreground (PUFD2).
Bearing in mind the support offered by specialise layers and after consulting the specific helpdesk service of the EC for intellectual property rights (IPR) aspects, the exploitation agreement was modified and adapted to the suggestion offered by the those entities consulted.
In parallel, bilateral meetings among the project coordinator and APTAR's associations and among the own SMEs-AGS have been held in order to discus different aspects concerning the property, exploitation and protection of APTAR results.
These questions were also discussed during APTAR final meeting, elaborating the definitive version of the exploitation agreement that was reviewed and signed by all partner and included in the final version of the PUDF3.
- Dissemination:
External:
1. Web platform (see http//:www.zurkoresearch.com/aptar/ online) containing easy to understand general information of the project, public documents and events offered to the public audience produced and activated during the fifth month of the project.
2. Launching event to disseminate information of APTAR initiative held on 16 February (month 2) in Noreña (Asturias) and Closure event addressed to UECBV members, stakeholders, representatives of Commission services and companies, held in Brussels (Belgium) on 22 May 2012, where the technical results of the biohdyrolysis process, the agricultural application of the products obtained and the benefits for SMEs implementing APTAR were presented and discussed.
3. A press release was published in the meat sector magazine EUROCARNE on its digital version of 25 June 2009 and the launching event was widely disseminated among the general public in different media. APTAR was also published in newspaper 'La Verdad', economic digital newspaper 'Empresa Exterior', innovation, technology and science plan of Murcia Region 2011 - 2014, in the European research area of Asturias region economic development institute (IDEPA), in the technology marketplace of the EC's official information service for research and development and in the Youtube TV documental 'Ecoinnnova'
4. A summary of APTAR project written in an accessible style for non-specialist have been elaborated and translated into English, French, Bulgarian and Spanish, which enabled to use it for the general public of every country involved.
5. Attendance to congresses: After elaborating an abstract of APTAR project that was reviewed and approved by all partners, CEBAS-CSIC submitted it to the '26th International Conference on Solid Waste Technology and Management' that was be held in Philadelphia (EE.UU) on 27 - 30 March 2011, where APTAR project was orally disseminated.
6. Leaflets: On month 18, three internal leaflets (two for meat and one for phytosanitary sector) were elaborated by UECBV, AIICPA and BGA in English and their national languages (French, Spanish and Bulgarian). These leaflets were decided to be used as an external dissemination tool in order to exhibit the objectives and implications of APTAR results in involved sectors, reaching a higher dissemination level than using it just for internal use. The second and definitive version of the three leaflets (two for meat sector and one for phytosanitary sector) were elaborated by UECBV, AIICPA and BGA in English and their national languages (French, Spanish and Bulgarian) updating results concerning the prototype installed and field assays. These leaflets were compiled in D17.2 and used in any training and/or dissemination activity organised. Availability of a dissemination document that could be delivered among target groups for exhibit APTAR results and the implications in involved sector.
7. Audiovisual material: APTAR project was described in different videos related with the I+D projects
Internal:
1. The private section of the web page was activated on month 17 and updated with all internal information elaborated, being all partners continuously informed about the project status.
2. The project presentation was elaborated in month 6 as D14 'Summary of APTAR project' to be used for external dissemination, allowing to have a document for public dissemination since the first months of the project.
3. Internal e-bulleting: a first internal e-bulleting was elaborated on the development and the progressing results achievements in the two research areas, being all partners properly informed about APTAR results. The second version of the internal e-bulleting that was internally delivered among partners.