Saragossa already has its own biorefinery which will allow the city to treat the waste produced in the city and its surroundings, until converting them into final products of «high added value», based on bio-based materials, sustainable local raw materials and circular production processes.
The biorefinery is owned by the Zaragoza City Council and is managed by Urbasera leading company in environmental solutions that coordinates the consortium made up of 11 entities, in environmental solutions, coordinates the consortium made up of 11 entities, which has a budget of 23 million euros to invest in the development of the project CIRCULAR BIOCARBONfunded by Biobased Industries Joint Undertaking, under the European Union Horizon 2020 program.
The facility was inaugurated this Wednesday at the Zaragoza Urban Waste Treatment Center and the Alfonso Maíllo Innovation Center, in an event attended by the mayor of Zaragoza, Natalia Chueca; the Minister of Mobility and Environment, Tatiana Gaudes; the CEO of Urbaser, Fernando Abril-Matorell; and the CEO of Circular Bio-based Europe Join Undertaking, Nicolo Giacomuzzi.
Zaragoza and biorefinery: the circular
This biorefinery installed in Zaragoza will be a “reference in circular economy». This was highlighted by the mayor of Zaragoza, Natalia Chueca, in her speech: «Once again, Zaragoza demonstrates that, by betting on the green economy, it is possible to generate employment and wealth, in addition to taking giant steps in the configuration of sustainable cities and healthy. Zaragoza is a benchmark in sustainable mobility, in urban greening with projects such as the Bosque de los Zaragozanos and the Huerva River and in the circular economy, exceeding the national recycling rate. Now we are also a benchmark in new technologies aimed at converting waste.”
🌍 Today in Zaragoza we inaugurate a pioneering biorefinery in Europe together with Urbaser, which will transform waste into high-value bioproducts. We continue to advance in circular economy and sustainability. We lead the green future! ♻️ #SustainableZaragoza #CircularEconomy #Innovation pic.twitter.com/hHXzRyBQVZ
— Natalia Chueca (@ChuecaNatalia) October 2, 2024
According to the company that will manage the biorefinery, this facility is a “unique model”, in which the process lines are implemented “in two different locations.” In this way, Zaragoza and the small city of Sesto San Giovanni (in the province of Milan), will be the two axes of this project and which, they say, will “test the work of the biorefinery against different types of waste management systems, ecosystems and existing industrial practices, boosting its potential for replicability throughout Europe.
From waste to high value products
These efforts must be placed in the context of the Action Plan for the Circular Economyadopted by the European Union in 2020. The Plan aims to help cities find new ways to valorize high-quality waste streams for reuse, reprocessing and recycling. Biodegradable waste, in particular, is a key source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from landfills, corresponding to approximately 3% of total EU GHG emissions.
«The new facility makes use of a circular model in which innovation is the protagonist, moving from waste and wastewater management to the production of materials, thus supporting industries in their transition based on biotechnology. The process will also help the production of marketable final products, reducing the industries’ dependence on non-renewable resources,” said the CEO of Urbaser, Fernando Abril-Matorell.
Some of the products that the biorefinery will develop are the coating of direct consumer products, as well as that of moving mechanical parts and plastic molding tools, compostable garbage bags, graphene-based green devices, biodegradable soil mulches, solid organo-mineral fertilizer with biostimulant properties and biologically based liquid biostimulant. These products will be used by both industry and end consumers.
