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

Informazioni relative al progetto

ECO-Pet

ID dell’accordo di sovvenzione: 854343

DOI

10.3030/854343

Progetto chiuso

Data della firma CE 23 Gennaio 2019

Data di avvio 1 Febbraio 2019

Data di completamento 31 Maggio 2019

Finanziato da

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Costo totale

€ 71 429,00

Contributo UE

€ 50 000,00

Coordinato da

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)

Periodo di rendicontazione: 2019-02-01 al 2019-05-31

Sintesi del contesto e degli obiettivi generali del progetto

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.

Lavoro eseguito dall’inizio del progetto fino alla fine del periodo coperto dalla relazione e principali risultati finora ottenuti

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

Progressi oltre lo stato dell’arte e potenziale impatto previsto (incluso l’impatto socioeconomico e le implicazioni sociali più ampie del progetto fino ad ora)

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