- Juanma Revuelta, CEO of Finnova, has explained today, 31 May, the European project LIFE ECODIGESTION 2.0 in a hybrid event, which has taken place in the Environmental Complex of La Vega in Seville
- This second edition of the Best Practices Conference follows the success of the first one, held in 2022, on Spanish-Portuguese cooperation for waste management and treatment
31/05/2023, Seville. European project LIFE ECODIGESTION 2.0 has been present today, Wednesday 31st May, in the second edition of the “Conference of good practices on circular economy and waste prevention”, held in hybrid format in the Environmental Complex of La Vega in Seville. This meeting was organised by the Mancomunidad de La Vega, with the support of the Finnova Foundation and a grant from the Junta de Andalucía.
The main objective of this event was to generate alliances and seek solutions for the reduction and recovery of waste for its management and treatment. In this sense, the good practices that come out of this meeting can be consolidated in a joint regional response embodied in European projects and programmes.
Juanma Revuelta, CEO of Finnova, opened the second block on the “European financial framework for financing solutions to the challenges detected and dynamisation of the local entrepreneurial ecosystem” with the European project LIFE ECODGESTION 2.0.
In his speech, Revuelta explained how for a year they have been mixing different waste from the HORECA sector to try to convert the hotel, among other establishments, into a prosumer. “In Europe there are more than 18,000 water treatment plants that are responsible for consuming 3% of the total energy. The costs of landfilling waste have risen and this innovative technology could be an energy efficient alternative to reduce costs and increase the use of biogas on demand as a sustainable energy source. Our intention is to propose a third LIFE ECODIGESTION project and also to scale up the idea to the Interreg programme,” said Finnova’s CEO.
About Mancomunidad de Servicios de la Vega
The Mancomunidad de Servicios de La Vega is a Local Administration born in 1998 from the grouping of a total of 19 municipalities around the Vega del Guadalquivir for the management of the collection and treatment of Urban Solid Waste (USW). Its mission is to establish a common strategy that favours the correct development of services and actions within the framework of waste collection and treatment, guaranteeing the protection of the ecosystem, and always acting in accordance with the values of effectiveness, efficiency and commitment.
The Mancomunidad de La Vega is made up of the following municipalities: Alcalá del Río, Alcolea del Río, Brenes, Burguillos, Cantillana, Castilblanco de los Arroyos, Castilleja de la Cuesta, El Castillo de las Guardas, Gerena, Guillena, La Algaba, La Rinconada, Lora del Río, Peñaflor, San Juan de Aznalfarache, Tocina, Villanueva del Río y Minas and Villaverde del Río.
About LIFE ECODIGESTION 2.0
This is a pilot demonstration project, funded by the LIFE programme and with a budget of more than 970,000 euros, which generates biogas in sewage treatment plant digesters by mixing putrescible organic waste (slurry, poultry, organic fractions, MSW, horeca, etc.), thus transforming sewage sludge into green energy through technology. The initiative led by Global Omnium, (Spain), in collaboration with the Finnova Foundation (Belgium) and Águas do Centro Litoral (Portugal) aims to become the most versatile digestion control tool on the market, achieving environmental and economic benefits through the production of biogas by making optimal use of waste. Thanks to this technology, it favours the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the use of sewage sludge generated in wastewater treatment processes, thus achieving a positive impact on the environment. This programme is easily scalable with other funds such as FEDER, NextGenerationEU or Repower EU.
About Finnova Foundation Finnova is the Spanish-Belgian non-profit foundation based in Brussels and Spain, working for the promotion and development of innovation and entrepreneurship in the EU. Finnova’s experience in leading communication and dissemination activities for European projects is combined with a proven track record in business creation and entrepreneurship support programmes, such as accelerators, incubators and events, as well as its commitment to training and employability of young people.