Nine organisations including Italian Agrolio-Agroenergy biogas plant and research institutions have partnered to design a fully integrated "zero- emission" biorefinery using olive mill waste as feedstock.
Agrolio-Agroenergy, also known as BTS biogas, operates and builds biogas and biomethane plants primarily in Italy, but also in France, the UK, Belgium and the US.
The biorefining innovation project plans to create a biorefinery capable of producing "zero-emission" bioproducts including bioplastics, bioenergy, biofertilisers, and biopesticides, according to the firm's press release.
It remains unclear where the new biorefinery site will be located and what its capacities will be. Agrolio has yet to reply to a request for comments.
The EU is the largest producer of olive oil and the process currently generates large volumes of waste. The improper disposal of olive mill waste can lead to soil degradation and water pollution. The biorefinery will use green chemistry and microbial processes instead of conventional methods to convert the olive mill feedstock into useable bioproducts.
The project will run for four years and is receiving €4mn ($4.68mn) in funding from Horizon Europe, the EU's funding programme for research.
