Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development
Environment: ENEA in eu project for innovative and sustainable solutions for organic waste
Developing innovative models to collect and treatf organic waste in urban centers for an efficient and sustainable management also aimed at the creation of bioproducts with high added value. This is the goal of the EU project BIOCIRCULARCITIES[1], which involves six European countries with eight partners, including ENEA. Specifically, three pilot studies are envisaged on three urban and rural contexts of Naples, Barcelona (Spain) and Pazardzhik (Bulgaria), each of which will focus on a specific value chain and on possible options to make it increasingly circular and sustainable, also investigating the opportunities offered by untapped organic waste streams.
The City of Naples participates in BIOCIRCULARCITIES for Italy jointly with ENEA; for Spain Fundació ENT (coordinator) and Area Metropolitana de Barcelona; for Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology; for Belgium Association des Villes et Regions pour la Gestion Durable des Ressource; for Estonia CIVITTA Eesti AS; for Bulgaria Regionalna Energiina Agencia Pazardjik Sdruzenie - Regional Energy Agency of Pazardjik
ENEA, using tools for the assessment of environmental and economic sustainability according to a Life Cycle Thinking approach, will support the development of a more effective regulatory framework for the implementation of local and community policies, based on an efficient use of resources and the valorisation of waste, with a view to closing cycles.
"The valorisation of organic waste can be strategic, but greater cooperation among players in the supply chain, correct management at the local level and better collection quality are required, as well as a regulatory framework suited to the challenges, which identifies high potential organic waste streams as resources”, pointed out Amalia Zucaro at the Division for an Efficient Use of Resources and Closure of Cycles. “Good practices of Circular Economy are spreading rapidly, but there is still a lot to do to give momentum to the transition to a green and sustainable society,” she said.
BIOCIRCULARCITIES will adopt a participatory approach, stimulating collaboration among all players in the organic waste supply chain and involving the 4 segments of the "quadruple helix" (industry, science, civil society and politics) with events, initiatives and living labs, to promote 'collaborative knowledge', necessary to map regulatory and market potential and promote the development of the urban circular economy.
“The project will address the main challenges posed by EU legislation on the management of organic waste and the circular economy. We want to make significant contributions in the field of innovative waste collection and treatment and the creation of bioproducts with high added value ”, pointed out the coordinator Rosaria Chifari of Fundació ENT.
As part of the project, which will end in 2023, several phases have already been launched including the identification of the organic waste supply chains in the three pilot areas and the study of the current regulatory framework on circular bioeconomy at local, regional, national and European level.