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CONVERSION OF DILUTED MIXED URBAN BIO-WASTES INTO SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS AND PRODUCTS IN FLEXIBLE PURPLE PHOTOBIOREFINERIES

Project description

Four municipalities set up first photobiorefinery in the EU

End-users from four municipalities – two in Spain and another two in the Moravia-Silesia region of Czechoslovakia – will create a consortium to transform diluted urban bio-waste into sustainable bio-products including cosmetics, fertilisers, packaging and self-repairing construction materials. The DEEP PURPLE project will set up and implement at a single site the first Purple Phototropic Bacteria biorefinery in the EU. Targeted to be the largest in the world, this production chain will have a processing capacity of 422 t/y of organic fraction municipal solid waste. This will engage communities to create new value and new opportunities, reduce landfill, raise solids recovery to 71 % and replace current polluting practices.

Objective

DEEP PURPLE creates a holistic consortium to transform diluted urban bio-wastes, including mixed waste streams, organicfraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW), wastewater (WW) and sewage sludge (SS), into feedstock for bio-industry toobtain sustainable bio-products. This revolutionary concept will be implemented in a novel Single-Site Multi-Platform Concept (Biomass, Cellulose and Biogas) to replace current polluting destructive practices with new value added concepts.

The beneficial use of bio-waste is obtained by an innovative combination of optimized recovery technologies and novel solutions: the Purple Phototrophic Bacteria (PPB) PhotoBiorefinery. The use of PPB -the most versatile metabolismreported- ensures the adaption to fluctuating and diluted waste streams to support a stable and profitable production chain. Thefirst PPB PhotoBiorefinery in the EU (the biggest worldwide) will be validated in different environmental, economic, logisticand social scenarios.

The concept will be implemented by end-users from four municipalities, namely Madrid (ES), Toledo (ES), and the Moravia-Silesia Region(CZ) to transform bio-wastes (OFMSW: 422 t/y, mixed waste: 438,000 m3/y) into high-added value bioproducts:fine chemicals (bio-cosmetics), fertilizers, bio-packaging and self-repairing construction materials. The marketuptake of DEEP PURPLE is facilitated by optimal logistics of bio-wastes conversion (reduction of landfilled OFMSW: 60%, WWTP, solids recovery: 71%), and bio-products quality to favor their commercialization (440 t/y). The integration of valuechains is boosted by relevant stakeholder’s participation and innovative business models, minimizing waste and maximizingbenefits (85 M€ benefits, GHG emissions savings: 11,300 tCO2eq/y in 2025). Key communities (social engagementstrategies) will participate in the new value creation, calibrating the returns of the project like social innovation promotion and creation of new opportunities along the urban value cycle.

Coordinator

FCC AQUALIA SA
Net EU contribution
€ 1 413 000,30
Address
CALLE FEDERICO SALMON 13
28016 Madrid
Spain

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Region
Comunidad de Madrid Comunidad de Madrid Madrid
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
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Total cost
€ 2 463 755,15

Participants (18)