CemeCon Scandinavia A/S is part of the flagship project CIRCULAR BIOCARBON, which kicked off on June 14th, and which has been awarded over 23 M€ to develop a first-of-its kind flagship biorefinery, designed to turn the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) and sewage sludge (SS) into added-value products, from advanced coatings of machine components and plastic moulding tools, to night vision cameras and devices for 5G telecommunications.
The project, which received full marks from the European Commission, involves 11 partners from five European countries (including Spain, Italy, Denmark, France, and Germany) is a milestone for the whole Europe owing to its implementation scale (industrial level) as well as to its replicability potential.
The biorefinery is a unique and integrated model with the process lines for the OFSMW and SS to be implemented in two locations, namely Zaragoza (Spain) and Sesto San Giovanni (Italy).
Construction of the site in Spain will start in 2022 in the facilities of “Alfonso Maíllo” R&D+i center, and in the Center for Urban Waste Treatment of Zaragoza (CTRUZ), owned by the Municipality of Zaragoza and located in the Technological Park for Recycling (PTR). At the end of the project, a commercial scale biorefinery will be in full operation designed in order to treat all the biowaste produced by a medium-size city.
Urbaser, a global company for environmental management, and Socamex, the water branch of Urbaser, will coordinate this five-year project. Reflecting on this unique role Eduardo Fernández, I+D+i Director at Urbaser said: “CIRCULAR BIOCARBON is a circular economy project, where the first biorefinery for the joint treatment of urban solid waste and sewage sludge at industrial level will be built and exploited. This, aims at valorising the organic fraction of urban solid waste and sewage sludge coming from wastewater treatment plants into value-added products”
Michael Lykke Hvam, Chief Technology Officer at CemeCon Scandinavia A/S, adds: “Turning urban waste into functional coatings provides an advantage for both us and our project partners; by reducing the environmental impact of the waste, and producing coating in a scalable and economic manner. Also, our customers will benefit from a coating produced in an even more environmentally friendly manner that can prolong the lifetime of their tools and reduce the need for lubrications – further reducing the CO2 footprint of their production.”
CIRCULAR BIOCARBON will set the basis for the demonstration, at commercial level, of the feasibility of a biorefinery as a new waste treatment model for cities. It will open up the market for new products and new business frameworks based on a circular vision of waste treatment in cities and help pave the way towards a sustainable bioeconomy.
Left: Biopiattaforma Sesto San Giovanni south (©Gruppo CAP). Right: Biorefinery_Zaragoza (©Urbaser)
The project has received funding through the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) which was established in 2014, and aims to implement the Strategic Innovation & Research Agenda (SIRA), which was developed by industry in collaboration with the EU to realise a bio-based economy as part of the broader Circular Economy Action Plan for Europe.
More information here