What are the environmental and technological issues of waste recovery that experts are studying?

Contribution of new technologies to circular management revealed in a workshop organized by the USM and USACH.

Cases of progress in the world and others at the local level were presented within the framework of the international workshop “Technological and environmental challenges of the revaluation of waste”, held on March 10, 2020 at the Vitacura campus of the Technical University Federico Santa María ( USM). The event was jointly organized by the USM and the University of Santiago de Chile (USACH), and had the participation of experts from prestigious national and European universities.

The talks revolved around the thematic variables related to waste recovery, such as hydrothermal carbonization and the manufacture of liquid biofuels.

Opening the presentations, Dr. Nuno Ratola, from the University of Porto (Portugal), referred to the aspects that characterize a future scenario in relation to waste management. Citing reports from the World Bank, the specialist identified that by 2050 waste generation is expected to triple in some areas, such as sub-Saharan Africa. The specialist warned that currently rich countries represent 16% of the population, but that they are responsible for the generation of 34% of waste globally. In that direction, indicated that there is currently a low percentage of waste recovery, due to “poor waste management” or poor management of them.

For Ratola, one way to move in this direction is to promote biogas as a source of sustainable development. For his part, Dr. Luis Díaz, from the University of Santiago, addressed the recovery of organic waste through the hydrothermal carbonization method (HTC, for its acronym in English). In this regard, mention the multiple advantages of this technology in terms of sustainability, such as, for example, that it can reduce the percentage of chlorine in PVC. For his part, Eduardo Pinilla, from the University of Extremadura, Spain, referred to active carbons derived from vine pruning residues as collectors of heavy metals in wastewater.

Next, Dr. Francisco Cereceda, from the USM, presented the advances and success cases developed by the Center for Environmental Technologies (CETAM) of the USM, in terms of revaluation of agro-industrial, forest, tire and sludge from treatment, with emphasis on its orientation to the Circular Economy.

From Germany

In the afternoon, talks were held on “Potential of biomass gasification gas for use in dual diesel engines”, by Dr. Juan José Hernández, from the University of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain), and “Manufacture of liquid biofuels as an alternative for the revaluation of waste ”, by Dr. Lorenzo Calvo, from the University of Extremadura (Spain). The day ended with the presentations “The challenge of valuing residential organic waste”, by Dr. Stefan Pelz, and “Updates of low temperature hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) for the transformation of lignocellulosic biomass waste for combustion”, both experts from the University of Rottenburg (Germany).

Source: Induambiente