The third meeting of the ReVaCy project took place on 31 March and 1 April. The project team met in Jaen, Spain, to discuss the approach for the final phase of the project.
The team spent half a day touring the surrounding area, visiting a cooperative of olive producers and a pomace mill. At the pomace mill, the team toured the facilities, which not only extract pomace oil from the press residues but also process pieces of olive pits and skins into fuel, fertiliser or bedding. The water present in the press residues is also recovered.
These examples show that olive oil production already relies on many principles of the circular economy. Everything is utilised; no waste is produced. At the same time, there is currently a heated debate as to whether the extraction of olive oil is the most sensible use. Business models already established today, such as biogas production, have so far met with resistance from the public and businesses due to the necessary addition of manure to the olive pomace. Innovative material uses have not yet emerged on a large scale from research or small market niches. It therefore remains to be seen how this sector, which is so important for the Jaén region, will position itself in the future.
Contact person at IfLS: Christoph Mathias (mathias[at]ifls.de)
