1. 28-29 June 2012 ATHENS2012 Conference “Best practices for Agricultural Wastes (AW) treatment and reuse in the Mediterranean countries (WasteReuse)”, www.wastereuse.eu Duration 01/09/11 - 31/08/15 Co-funded by LIFE+ Environment Policy and Governance, LIFE10 ENV/GR/594 K. Komnitsas, D. Zaharaki, M.T. Hernández, J.L. Moreno Ortego, C.G. Izquierdo, F. Tinivella, G. Minuto, L. Medini, D. Micharikopoulos and E. Tavlaki

2. 28-29 June 2012 ATHENS2012 Conference Coordinating Beneficiary: Technical University Crete (TUC), www.mred.tuc.gr/p013215_UK.htm www.mred.tuc.gr/p013215_UK.htm Coordinator: Prof. Kostas Komnitsas, email komni@mred.tuc.gr komni@mred.tuc.gr Associated Beneficiaries: - Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CEBAS-CSIC), Murcia, Spain, www.cebas.csic.es www.cebas.csic.es - Center for Agricultural Experimentation and Assistance (CERSAA), Albenga, Italy, www.cersaa.it www.cersaa.it - Chemical Laboratory of the Chamber of Commerce of Savona (Laboratorio Chimico CCIAA), Albenga, Italy - Signosis Sprl., Brussels, Belgium, www.signosis.eu www.signosis.eu 2

3. 28-29 June 2012 ATHENS2012 Conference Why treatment and reuse of AW is required?  AW are produced in huge quantities (olive oil mill wastewaters, wine, swine and other animal waste, rice straw and various other AW)  AW have a high content of recalcitrant compounds and are characterized as potentially hazardous and toxic when disposed untreated on soil or in water bodies  If reused valuable by-products can be produced eg. compost  Other benefits include reduction of raw materials use (eg. phosphates for fertilizers), carbon footprint and environmental risk as well as water savings (irrigation)  Practice towards “zero waste” production

4. 28-29 June 2012 ATHENS2012 Conference WasteReuse objectives  Evaluation of innovative/traditional technologies for AW treatment regarding their suitability for crop cultivation (irrigation and fertilization)  Development of Alternative Cultivation Practices for crops in Med by recycling nutrients and water from AW  Protection of soil quality from the disposal of treated and untreated AW  Reduction of carbon footprint by recycling AW and minimizing the use of fertilizers - Conservation of natural resources  Increasing competiveness of Med agricultural products & profits via the reduction of external inputs (irrigation water, fertilizers) 4

5. 28-29 June 2012 ATHENS2012 Conference Expected results 1  Create an inventory of all available technologies for AW treatment  Assess the effect of different AW applications on soil properties and plant growth using lab and field tests  Assess the risk as well as the carbon footprint of the proposed methodologies through LCA studies  Develop a Code of Best Waste Management Practices in agriculture and provide decision-making tools for the most commonly cultivated crops in the Mediterranean region 5

6. 28-29 June 2012 ATHENS2012 Conference  Provide guidelines for policy makers to conform to European legislation requirements  Develop a network involving research organizations, agricultural associations, SMEs, regional/national authorities and policy makers  Develop an after Life Communication Plan to maximize dissemination of results after the end of the project Expected results 2 6

7. 28-29 June 2012 ATHENS2012 Conference ActionBeneficiary 1. Project Management TUC 2. Initial assessment of existing AW treatment technologies TUC 3. Development of alternative agricultural practises-Lab experiments (Spain) CEBAS 4. Development of alternative agricultural practises-Lab experiments (Italy) CCIAA 5. Demonstration-Spain CEBAS 6. Demonstration-Italy CERSAA 7. LCA and Risk Analysis TUC 8. Use of treated AW in agriculture – Terms and conditions Signosis Sprl. 9. Dissemination Signosis Sprl. 10. Networking Signosis Sprl. 11. Project Monitoring TUC 12. After-LIFE communication plan Signosis Sprl. 7

8. 28-29 June 2012 ATHENS2012 Conference WasteReuse Actions 1  Actions 1 and 11 (project management and monitoring, respectively) provide guidelines in order to complete the project on time and within budget  Action 2: Collection of all available data regarding funded projects focused on the development/application of technologies for the treatment of AW produced in the Mediterranean region  Actions 3 & 4: Lab experiments to evaluate AW effect on soil properties and assess their suitability for crop production and improvement of quality

9. 28-29 June 2012 ATHENS2012 Conference Pot cultivation of sage Pot cultivation of thyme 9

10. 28-29 June 2012 ATHENS2012 Conference Cyclamen cultivation in CERSAA’s greenhouse Cultivations in open field 10

11. 28-29 June 2012 ATHENS2012 Conference WasteReuse Actions 2  Actions 5 & 6 will demonstrate the feasibility of the application of treated wastes in open field and greenhouses cultivations  Action 7: Life Cycle Analysis in terms of raw materials consumption, energy use and emissions - Risk Analysis regarding phytotoxicity and impacts on soil and water  Action 8: Development of a Code of Waste Management Best Practices for agricultural application, by integrating the outcomes of all previous Actions

12. 28-29 June 2012 ATHENS2012 Conference WasteReuse Actions 3  Dissemination activities (Action 9) will be implemented during the entire project life and include numerous actions  Networking between scientific/research, industry/market and policy makers’ communities (Action 10) to disseminate effectively the innovative approaches developed by the project  In the line of Action 12, an after-LIFE communication plan will be developed

13. 28-29 June 2012 ATHENS2012 Conference Progress so far  Evaluation of available technologies for AW treatment  Characterization of soils and treated/untreated waste for crop cultivation  Dissemination activities  Networking

14. 28-29 June 2012 ATHENS2012 Conference Evaluation of available technologies for AW treatment  A total of 49 funded projects regarding technologies developed/implemented for the treatment of the most important AW, have been identified  Comprehensive inventory (grouped by type of waste, level of development and coordinating country)  Preliminary techno-economical and environmental evaluation using technical, environmental, economical and socio-cultural indicators

15. 28-29 June 2012 ATHENS2012 Conference Characterization of soils  Soils from agricultural Spanish (11), Italian (14) and Greek areas (10) have been characterized  Parameters such as pH, EC, CEC, TOC, etc. have been determined  Most soils are calcareous, their pH ranges between 7.3 - 8.4, the heavy metal content is very low and most other main soil parameters are quite similar  Two Spanish and two Italian soils of different texture have been selected for the experiments in Actions 3 and 4

16. 28-29 June 2012 ATHENS2012 Conference Characterization of treated/untreated waste  The wastes collected so far in Spain and Italy include olive mill wastewaters, composts from various organic waste, domestic organic waste, sheep manure, treated sewage sludge etc.  Phytotoxicity tests are carried out by - CEBAS using plants of agricultural importance for Spain - CCIAA and CERSAA using cress (Lepidium sativum) which is commonly used in Italy

17. 28-29 June 2012 ATHENS2012 Conference Effect of 3% v/v diluted waste on germination index of cress seeds - phytotoxicity test (A, B, E, F, G, M, N: olive oil mill wastewater, C, D: compost from organic waste, H, I: green compost from organic waste, L: mixed compost from organic waste, O: rice hull, P: olive husk)

18. 28-29 June 2012 ATHENS2012 Conference Dissemination activities 1  Dissemination strategy plan  Well designed website (www.wastereuse.eu) in English, Greek, Spanish, Italian and French including forums, blog and also partners’ areawww.wastereuse.eu  Project “diary” where all Beneficiaries report their activities  Newsletters with the most important news and results, published every six months  Project leaflets and posters in five languages

19. 28-29 June 2012 ATHENS2012 Conference

20. 28-29 June 2012 ATHENS2012 Conference Dissemination activities 2  A press release was sent by TUC to newspapers circulated in each region of Crete; an article presenting project’s objectives and progress so far was published on April 14, 2012 in the local newspaper “Haniotika Nea” of Hania, Crete, Greece  The WasteReuse project was presented by coordinator in a seminar organized by Istanbul Medeniyet University on May 16, 2012 in Istanbul, Turkey  The results of the project will be also disseminated through scientific publications in international peer-reviewed journals and participation in conferences

21. 28-29 June 2012 ATHENS2012 Conference Networking  Three different societal parts (scientific/research, industry/market and policy makers’ communities) will be reached and informed about project results  A database with members from international agricultural organizations, European Ministries of Agriculture, SMEs involved in fertilizer production and waste management etc. is being prepared

22. 28-29 June 2012 ATHENS2012 Conference Conclusion  The WasteReuse project aims to evaluate innovative/traditional technologies for AW treatment in terms of their suitability for crop cultivation and develop alternative cultivation practices  A website in five languages has been developed  Data regarding development/implementation of treatment technologies for Med AW have been evaluated using indicators  Spanish, Italian and Greek soils have been characterized  Phytotoxicity tests are under way using different AW; results so far show that the yield of the crops studied may be enhanced when appropriate application rates are used

23. 28-29 June 2012 ATHENS2012 Conference Project coordinator: Technical University of Crete Dpt Mineral Resources Engineering Research unit “Management of mining / metallurgical wastes and rehabilitation of contaminated soils” www.mred.tuc.gr/p013215_UK.htm www.mred.tuc.gr/p013215_UK.htm Thank you ! 23 WasteReuse project, LIFE10 ENV/GR/594 www.wastereuse.eu 01/09/11 - 31/08/15