We participate in SYMSITES, an European circular economy project

We are present in the new international SYMSITES project, in collaboration with 30 other companies from 9 different countries. Members include universities, research centres, private companies, wastewater management companies and local government associations from Spain, Denmark, Austria, Greece, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Romania and Israel.

On 5 and 6 July 2022, the first meeting took place in Alicante, attended by representatives of the 30 participating partners, to launch the project whose implementation period will last until 2026 and which will conclude with the creation of four pilot demonstrators called "Ecosites" located in four European countries: Spain, Denmark, Austria and Greece with different economic, social and environmental situations.

SYMSITES project

Recycling processes and companies have long been established in our society. In most cases, however, approaches are limited to a specific area of activity. The citizen deposits the waste in separate collection containers. The municipal company takes the waste to the municipal waste treatment centre. There, it is sorted and destined for material recovery, incineration or landfill. The recovered materials are sold as secondary materials to companies and industries, which use them for new manufacturing processes.

Ultimately, new products that are composed of a percentage of recycled materials reach citizens through marketing channels. These different links are what make up the circular economy chain. However, each one separately is incapable of closing the material cycles, as it requires the functions fulfilled by the rest. This is how the Symsites project was born (awarded within the European call: HORIZON-CL4-2021-TWIN-TRANSITION-01-14) whose objective is the development of different technologies to demonstrate the concept of urban-industrial symbiosis. This can be understood as a cooperation between the different bodies for the proper functioning of the circular economy. Far from a paradigm of competition, cooperation and collaboration between citizens, municipalities and companies is needed. In this case, each of the companies and organisations involved in waste management are links that need to work in a coordinated manner.

We participated in Symsites testing water reuse in a pilot WWTP during textile processes
 (dyeing, washing, …):

- We contribute incoming water to study process parameters.

- We contribute treated water to analyze the discharge parameters.

Contribution of textile and process waste (transfer paper) to be treated in the pyrolysis process.

Definition and segmentation of the waste: transfer paper, selvedges, plastic packaging, sludge...