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

Información del proyecto

ECO-Pet

Identificador del acuerdo de subvención: 854343

DOI

10.3030/854343

Proyecto cerrado

Fecha de la firma de la CE 23 Enero 2019

Fecha de inicio 1 Febrero 2019

Fecha de finalización 31 Mayo 2019

Financiado con arreglo a

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Coste total

€ 71 429,00

Aportación de la UE

€ 50 000,00

Coordinado por

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)

Período documentado: 2019-02-01 hasta 2019-05-31

Resumen del contexto y de los objetivos generales del proyecto

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.

Trabajo realizado desde el comienzo del proyecto hasta el final del período abarcado por el informe y los principales resultados hasta la fecha

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

Avances que van más allá del estado de la técnica e impacto potencial esperado (incluida la repercusión socioeconómica y las implicaciones sociales más amplias del proyecto hasta la fecha)

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