Eco-friendly, safe and highly-absorbent wood pellets for animal bedding and litter, produced by an optimized cost-efficient energy process

Project Information

ECO-Pet

Grant agreement ID: 854343

DOI

10.3030/854343

Project closed

EC signature date 23 January 2019

Start date 1 February 2019

End date 31 May 2019

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

ENERGIA NATURAL DEL NORTE SL
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ECO-Pet (Eco-friendly, safe and highly-absorbent wood pellets for animal bedding and litter, produced by an optimized cost-efficient energy process)

Reporting period: 2019-02-01 to 2019-05-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

EBINOR (Energía Natural del Norte S.L.) is a Spanish company dedicated to producing wood pellets for heating and animal bedding/litter purposes. Based on our patented pelletizing process, covering a novel optimized energy efficient production – where the energy requirements are reduced by a third – EBINOR aims to produce ECO-Pet as a pelletized litter/bedding product for domestic animals that is 100 % biodegradable, safe, cost effective (38 % cheaper than conventional pellets), durable, and highly absorbent (25 % more absorbent than current solutions). ECO-Pet uses forestry wastes as raw materials that cannot be used for energy purposes, thus valorising these wastes and participating in the reaching a sustainable Europe. The main objective of the ECO-Pet project is the industrial adaptation and scaling up of our innovative pelletizing process.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

EBINOR has already made important technological progress in ECO-Pet thanks to an R&D project funded by the public Agency for Economic Development (ADER) of La Rioja (Spain). The project was carried out in 2016-2017, in which EBINOR made important technological and methodological advances in ECO-Pet. EBINOR first tested different mixtures of hardwoods and conifers to reach the most absorbent and long-lasting formulation. Then, the pelletizing process by which conventional stove pellets are produced was modified to produce pellets and flakes designed to suit the needs of domestic animals and their owners. The new pelletizing process as well as the new products are patent protected. As well, EBINOR’s innovative products have been tested with animals in real environments (litter-boxes and stables) to validate their safety and efficacy

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

ECO-Pet pellets and flakes go beyond the state of the art because they are the first 100 % natural wood bedding/litter pellet to be designed specifically to be used by domestic animals. The expected potential impact of our innovation is huge. First, it uses non-marketable forestry waste and low economic value species such as poplar as main raw materials, which make our product more affordable. Also, it requires less amount of product compared to our competitors, thus saving money, time and resources. In addition, our product is more durable and has a higher absorption capacity than conventional stove pellets because of its protected production process and subsequent polyhedral shape.

ECO-Pet pellets for animal beddings

The final product once it has passed through a screen to eliminate fines