PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Spain is the world's largest producer of olive oil. Most production is concentrated in the region of Andalusia, which produces one-third of the world's olive oil. The production process generates a lot of waste: only about 22% of each olive is extracted as oil. The rest is discarded in a mass called 'alperujo', a mixture of vegetative water, olive skin, olive pulp and crushed olive stones. The alperujo is transported by road (often long distances) to secondary extraction factories called 'orujeras' where it is dried in an energy-intensive process and made into low-quality oilve pomace oil or biomass. The drying process involves forced evaporation leading to emissions of suspended particles and other pollutants at levels above air quality thresholds. The large concentration of olive groves, olive mills and orujeras in Andalusia, makes the elimination of waste and air pollution from olive processing an urgent matter.
OBJECTIVES
LIFE OLEA REGENERA will build an industrial plant to produce new by-products from olive oil extraction waste. These can be transformed into high-value products such as animal feed and bio-stimulants to improve plant growth. The new process will reduce waste, energy use and air pollution.
The industrial plant will be based on a patented technology that separates the liquid and solid phases of 'alperujo' generated during olive oil extraction using only physical treatments. This separation process leads to a solid residue with a high content (35%) of monounsaturated fatty acids and a liquid residue with a high content of antioxidant molecules and compounds of the secondary metabolism. The project aims at confirming the high economic value of these two by-products. The liquid by-product will be tested in olive groves in Portugal as well as in Spain. By reducing the water content (and thus weight) of alperujo, carbon dioxide emissions from road transport of this residue to the secondary extraction factories will be reduced. The orujeras will use less energy and air pollution will also be reduced.
The project aims at supporting the implementation of EU environmental policy and legislation: the circular economy action plan; the ambient and air quality directives and the industrial emissions directive, the 2050 low-carbon economy roadmap and the 2050 energy strategy.
Expected results:
