- REDOL, a project financed by the European Union with 17 million euros, will turn Zaragoza into a climate-neutral city by 2030, with the development of a set of technologies that will optimize the collection, sorting and classification of 140,000 tons of solid urban waste per year.
- The extracted waste will be processed and transformed into new ranges of recycled products, linked to the construction, packaging, electronics and automotive sectors.
- Aitiip Centro Tecnológico, CIRCE, ITAINNOVA, the University of Zaragoza or ACCIONA are part of this consortium in which 36 partners from 12 European countries participate.
In the EU, each citizen produces an average of 500 kg of waste. However, only 45% of this amount is recycled. Zaragoza aspires to change the paradigm, becoming a climate-neutral city by 2030, thanks to the European REDOL project. An initiative financed by the European Union with more than 17 million euros, which seeks to turn the Aragonese capital into a benchmark for circularity, in which 100% of solid urban waste is recycled, transforming it into new ranges of sustainable products.
Within the framework of the project, a set of innovative solutions will be implemented to optimize the management technologies for the collection, sorting and classification of this waste, as well as its processing techniques (chemical recycling), with the aim of preventing these materials from reaching the landfill and instead being reused as new raw materials.
Valorizing 140,000 tons of waste per year
REDOL, which involves a total of 36 partners from 12 countries, including Aitiip Centro Tecnológico, CIRCE and Zaragoza City Council, aims to reuse and recover more than 140,000 tons of solid urban waste per year. REDOL's technological solutions will promote the circular economy by redesigning five value chains. For example, sensorized robotic systems will detect different types of plastic materials, wood, textiles or electronic components from garbage from containers and, once processed, these will be treated and then used to develop new eco-designed products: packaging, automotive parts, new electronic elements, fireproof materials, recycled cement megaliths, or geotextiles for construction.
The project will also establish a plan of guidelines and awareness-raising recommendations to improve citizens' perception of municipal solid waste recycling, so that it is understood as a powerful local resource for promoting sustainability, and so that they can increase their involvement in the separation process at home. The urban-industrial symbiosis developed in Zaragoza will be exported to the cities of Amsterdam, Prato in Italy and Bornholm in Denmark.
REDOL Project Partners
CIRCE, AITIIP, Zaragoza City Council, AITEX, ICCS, ITENE, ITA, University of Zaragoza, Next Technology, Lulea University, VDZ, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions, Tatuine, Casalé, IRIS, Moses, Brilen, Suite5, Tecnopackaging, Strane, Geonardo, RINA Consulting, Acteco, AMB Electronica, SAICA, Acciona, CEMEX, Financiera Maderera, ICLEI, EEIP, , Prato City Hall, ALIA, Bornholm City Hall, HUSA, CEMEX