The project, named ‘VOLATILE’, consists in developing innovative technology for recovering fatty acids from waste and turning them into products with a high added value.
Ferrovial Services Spain’s Treatment and Environmental Management Department and the Centre of Excellence for the Environment are part of the VOLATILE environmental project, which has been selected for financing by the European Commission for the period 2016-2020 under the ‘Horizon 2020‘ Framework Programme for Research and Development.
VOLATILE, the company’s first project to be selected by Horizon 2020, is being implemented by 21 partners from 9 European countries and aims to develop a technology for recovering fatty acids from organic waste and sludge from water treatment plants. These could subsequently be transformed into other high value-added products such as Omega 3 fatty acids.
The new products could be used in different industrial sectors, such as the chemical industry, the food sector or in biotechnology. Ferrovial Services is participating in the project through a temporary joint venture with the Salto del Negro Environmental Complex (in Gran Canaria), which supplies the organic waste for the various processes and tests required for obtaining volatile fatty acids during the project. It will also provide expert know-how in the management and operation of anaerobic digestors.
Commitment to the circular economy
Ferrovial Services furthers its commitment to the circular economy with this project, closing the life cycle of waste following its transformation into secondary raw materials which can be used in different ways, with the same quality, technical properties and characteristics as products made with virgin raw materials.
