Description

The objective of this program is to promote the sustainable industrial development in the Community of Madrid (CM) and stimulate the generation of new business opportunities through the innovative use of waste flows, the development of emerging technologies and the optimal management of information. First, the consortium will transfer and apply to various industrial sectors (food, pharmaceutical, chemical, etc.) the strategy for sustainable development and environmental impact minimization, already successfully applied in the paper industry. This will be done through the companies associated to the Program; secondly the concept of industrial symbiosis at regional and industrial area levels will be developed in collaboration with local authorities. Residual flows rich in organic carbon will be used to obtain products of interest for pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and cosmetics companies in the CM (e.g. oligosaccharide, functional lipids, antioxidants, succinic acid, isobutanol); solid wastes and liquid effluents will be studied for energy valorization (obtaining of syngas and biogas); and the potential for the integration of flows between adjacent plants will be studied. Finally, environmental awareness, the implementation of sustainability standards and a better information management will be encouraged in collaboration with the business associations of the Programme. The technological relevance of the program lies in the innovative approach adopted and the important industrial participation: knowledge from industrial microbiology and enzymology will be applied to residues that will be turned into raw materials for the development of new ways of producing high value compounds; the potential application of emerging technologies for wastewater treatment and the potential of different mixtures of waste for energy recovery will be demonstrated; the concept of industrial symbiosis will be introduced and promoted.