The latest events involving the Embraced Partners
Università degli Studi del Molise - Campobasso
Gestione e valorizzazione dei rifiuti in un'ottica di economia circolare: il progetto EMBRACED
On Wednesday the 30th of November 2022, a multidisciplinary seminar on the project Embraced took place at the Università degli Studi del Molise. The discussion focused on Absorbent Hygiene Products (AHP) waste management and their valorization in a circular economy perspective. The main partners had the opportunity to explain the Embraced project to the faculty students, as well as to further develop their network on the topic.
Rimini
Ecomondo
On the 9th of November 2022, the final event of Embraced was held in Ecomondo, the reference event for new models of regenerative economy. The gathering was an opportunity to meet part of the team, discuss the work carried out in recent years, and present the results achieved. The meeting took place at the Rimini Exhibition Centre, Workshop Area, at 14:00.
Spazio Mediterraneo - Cantieri Culturali alla Zisa - Palermo
La corretta applicazione della gestione dei rifiuti per la transizione acologia verso l'economia circolare
On Tuesday 17 May 2022 from 15:30 to 18:00, a training seminar was held, organised by Legambiente, on the correct application of waste management for the transition to the circular economy. The focus of the meeting was the recovery, recycling and reuse of secondary raw materials from absorbent products in the circular economy model. The seminar was held in Palermo as part of the third edition of Sicilia Munnizza Free.
Università degli studi di Palermo
Il progetto EMBRACED - Trattamento, valorizzazione e rigenerazione dei prodotti assorbenti per l'igiene (AHP): bioraffinerie, biotecnologie ed economia circolare
On the morning of Tuesday 17 May 2022, a multidisciplinary seminar entitled 'Treatment, valorisation and regeneration of absorbent hygiene products (AHP): biorefineries, biotechnology and circular economy' was held at the University of Palermo. The seminar was offered to the Microbiology and Hygiene Course and the Pharmacy Degree Course.
Circular Economy at the University of Padua
The events organised by Legambiente to bring Embraced project to Italian universities begin. On November 29th, at the University of Padua, Sala dell’archivio antico – Palazzo Bo, within the event “L’economia circolare va a scuola: opportunità e necessità per lo sviluppo dell’economia circolare in Veneto”, Embraced project partners are getting together to talk about the valorisation of AHP waste. The event will address the issue of education, training and innovation for the entrepreneurial development of the circular economy, with a training seminar aimed at university and secondary school students in the Veneto region. The project will be presented by Orsola Bolognani, Nuova Vita Program Expansion Manager at Fater, Davide Perini, Biotechnology lab Manager at Novamont and Marco Mattiello, International Relation Manager at Contarina Spa. Each partner will focus on a different aspect of the project: the AHP waste collection system and the innovative recycling technology of the project already active at Lovadina di Spresiano (TV) will be illustrated, as well as the valorisation of the cellulosic fraction of AHP waste through biotechnologies and the valuable final applications deriving from the recycling process.
The access at the event is guaranteed under registration at the link below: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfF3C_QPAheMoCGD1YObva1Vd0JfoIbUVBXstIp33MmBTi9zA/viewform
The event will also be streamed live through Legambiente Veneto channels.
LSA Congrès des Stratégies Commerciales (Paris, France)
The LSA Congrès des Stratégies Commerciales, major event dedicated to companies and professionals in the retail sector, was held in Paris. Novamont, within its presentation entitled “Fruit and vegetable bags in France and sustainable perspectives”, mentioned Embraced among the European Projects of which it is partner.
Biotech Week 2021 (Online)
The 2021 edition of the European Biotech Week, a weeklong series of events celebrating biotechnology hosted by EuropaBio, took place from September 27 until October 03. Novamont participated in the event with a webseries aimed at valorising the role of biotechnology: one episode was dedicated to illustrate EMBRACED: Novamont Project Manager for EMBRACED explained the Group’s activity in the project, highlighting how biotechnology can enable the conversion of waste cellulose from absorbent hygiene product waste into innovative bioproducts. In the social media table above, please find the social media posts’ and video’s views.
Festambiente festival 2021 (Rispescia in Tuscany, Italy)
The EMBRACED project was disseminated during the annual festival Festambiente organised by Legambiente in Maremma, Tuscany (18th-22nd August 2021). EMBRACED dissemination material such as booklets and roll-ups were displayed in the Circular Economy Pavilion throughout the festival. About 5.000 people have been reached in 2021.
Ecoforum Nazionale 2021 (Rome, Italy and Online)
Legambiente organised in collaboration with Conai (national packaging consortium), Conou (national consortium for the management, collection and treatment of exhausted mineral oils) and with the patronage of the Italian Ministry of Ecological Transition, Regione Lazio (authority of government of the territory of Lazio), the National Ecoforum in Rome (6th-7th July 2021). During Ecoforum 2021 the EMBRACED project was presented as a model of development of the Circular Economy and good practices to be put into practice. In the Ecoforum 2021 Legambiente has focused on the need for a National Plan for Circular Economy that provides tools, objectives, reforms, starting from the strengthening of the system of environmental controls and economic resources, as already provided by the PNRR giving strength to regulatory simplification, innovation, and space for citizen participation. During the Ecoforum the discussion focused on new projects and Italy's need for plants to achieve "zero waste to landfill". The booklets and roll-ups of the EMBRACED project were exhibited during the national Ecoforum (a mixed event, in presence and online) during which some speakers cited the example of the EMBRACED project. During the event there was the periodic awarding of the Comuni Ricicloni. project were exhibited during the national Ecoforum (a mixed event, in presence and online) during which some speakers cited the example of the EMBRACED project. During the event there was the periodic awarding of the Comuni Ricicloni.
A Zero-Waste Process for Absorbent Hygiene Products: EMBRACED at CONAMA 2020
Within the framework of CONAMA 2020, which will take place in Madrid from May 31 to June 3, on Wednesday, June 2, 2021, as part of the conference “Conama Innova: circular economy and industry”, CIRCE Foundation (www.fcirce.es) will present EMBRACED project, as a successful example of industrial innovation and circular economy.
Thanks to EMBRACED project’s research, traditionally non-recyclable waste, such as Absorbent Hygiene Products, is converted into raw material for the generation of innovative products. EMBRACED project’s most recent progresses will be presented together with the European project EFFECTIVE, which uses bio-based raw material, which does not conflict with food production, for the production of textile fibres designed to be recovered at the end of their useful life. Both projects are part of the Bio Based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU), which aims to contribute to a more resource-efficient and low-carbon economy.
"Towards a Circular Economy – Untapping the potential of biowaste: opportunities and challenges ahead" (Online)
During the workshop “Towards a Circular Economy – Untapping the potential of biowaste: opportunities and challenges ahead”, EMBRACED was mentioned among the different projects, of which Novamont is partner, aimed at valorising scraps into novel bioproducts.
A Webinar on Innovative Circular Economy Projects
The circular economy and integrated waste management. This is the name of the session where Marco Mattiello, International Relations Manager at Contarina Spa, will present Embraced, the project funded by Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking which aims at creating valuable materials from the recycling of Absorbent Hygiene Products.
The webinar, which will take place on Thursday 26 November from 3 to 4:30 pm, addresses companies, research centers, universities and public administrations that want to explore the circular economy topics and related research and innovation activities, and it will allow to deepen the advantages of standards within European projects in order to implement R&I strategies, enhance projects, grow the company and accentuate cooperation between the public and private sectors.
Participation is free, upon registration at the address:
https://bit.ly/EC26nov20
The event is held through the GoToWebinar platform.
Ecoforum Nazionale 2020
In October 2020 Legambiente, Nuova Ecologia and Kyoto Club, in collaboration with CONOU, organized the 7th edition of Ecoforum national conference on circular economy, under the patronage of the Italian Ministry of Ecological Transition. During the event, most of the interventions focused on the request for a national plan for the circular economy. The event has certified an increase of both the attention and awareness of citizens on the topic of Circular Economy and a wide confidence in Europe, in the Recovery Fund and in the PNRR. Moreover, it emerged from the works of the Forum that, in order to accelerate the circular revolution in Italy, the PNRR should first of all provide resources for the reconversion of obsolete industrial plants, incentivize companies committed to circularity, educate citizens, and support scientific research.
In the forum discussion, among the various interventions, Giovanni Teodorani Fabbri, General Manager of FaterSMART, provided feedback from the EMBRACED experience.
online event “Il ruolo della "Public-Private Partnership Biobased Industry" (BBI JU) nella efficace implementazione dell'industria biobased italiana” organized by APRE and Italian Ministry of University and Research
The EMBRACED project was disseminated through an oral presentation by Orsola Bolognani (FATER). A video of the project was also presented at the event.
The event offered also the opportunity to exchange useful information with other BBI JU projects involving Italian partners and identify synergies for networking activities.
BBI Synergy Label Award Ceremony
Rising is a project proposal which intends to demonstrate and validate, in three different pedoclimatic European areas, a set of cost-competitive, safe, bio-based stimulants and pesticides.
On 6 October at 14.30, during the online Synergy Label Award Ceremony open event, BBI JU will award the Synergy Label to nine project proposals from the 2019 Call for proposals. The award ceremony will be web-streamed via BBI JU Youtube and Twitter channels.
The BBI JU Synergy Label is a pilot initiative for proposals submitted to the BBI JU Call for proposals and qualified above the quality threshold, that couldn’t get funding due to budget limits. The label recognises the excellence of these proposals, making easier their access to alternative funding sources (programmes at the EU, Member State or regional level, international funds, etc.).
This year, the BBI JU Synergy Label will be awarded to nine proposals from the 2019 Call for proposals: AlgaeCoop, BIOSUSTAIN, BLOOM, FUNgredients, GIANT, NutWAVE, RAWHEALTHURE, RISING and Up4Value.
18th Ružička days (Vukovar, Croatia)
The EMBRACED project was disseminated through a poster presented by SAPONIA at the 18th Ružička days - “Today science - tomorrow industry”.
ESOF 2020
The EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) is a biennial, pan-European, general science conference dedicated to scientific research and innovation. Each conference aims to deliver stimulating content and lively debate around the latest advancements and discoveries in the sciences, humanities and social sciences.
ESOF brings together over 4,500 leading thinkers, innovators, policy makers, journalists and educators from more than 90 countries, to discuss current and future breakthroughs in contemporary science. Marcello Somma, Head of Global Business Development and Center of Expertise at Fatersmart and Embraced project’s coordinator, will participate to one of the session organized by BBI JU, sharing its experience as the inventor of the process that allows to recycle the used absorbent hygiene products during the session “Waste not: Municipal Solid Waste as an opportunity for new business models in the Circular Economy”.
15th Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems - SDEWES, (Cologne, Germany)
Oral presentation of the EMBRACED project by Andrea HERNÁNDEZ (CIRCE) with a speech titled “Establishing a Multi-Purpose Biorefinery for the Recycling of the Organic Content of Absorbent Hygiene Products (Ahp) Waste in a Circular Economy Domain”.
Festambiente festival 2020 (Rispescia in Tuscany, Italy)
The EMBRACED project was disseminated during the annual festival Festambiente organised by Legambiente in Maremma, Tuscany (19th–23rd August 2020). EMBRACED dissemination material such as booklets and roll-ups were displayed in the Circular Economy Pavilion throughout the festival. About 4.000 people have been reached in 2020.
Embraced solution wins Solar Impulse Efficient Solution 2020
The Solar Impulse Foundation, founded by Bertrand Piccard, has a mission: balancing economic growth with environmental sustainability. “1000 Solutions Challenge” selects and awards the most profitable solutions and products with the most positive ecological impact submitted by companies.
Embraced was awarded as Solar Impulse Efficient Solution in April 2020 for its diaper waste recycling technology. Embraced Biorefinery aims at closing the loop for AHP waste, by transforming used diapers into high value secondary raw materials such as building blocks, polymers and fertilizers.
Besides providing a net economic benefit up to 208 €/ton of AHP waste, Embraced solution reduces GHG emissions by 422 kg CO2eq per ton of AHP against traditional incineration and reduces the land use required for the production of bio-based polyesters by 90 times compared to other sources.
Embraced Booklet – From People care to Planet care
Embraced is an EU funded project, involving 13 partners from businesses, academia, and research institutions. The objective of the project is the establishment of a first-of-its-kind demonstration plant of an integrated biorefinery in The Netherlands, with a throughput of 10,000 t/year, based on the valorisation of the cellulosic fraction of AHP waste towards the production of bio-based building blocks, polymers and fertilizers. Every partner is working towards an ambitious goal, and in order to explain more about the project’s results after two years and a half of implementation, Embraced consortium released the Embraced Booklet - From People care to planet care.
The booklet explores the progress made in each area of the project: from the pilot plant for the recycling of AHP waste in Treviso, to the innovative separate collection pilot program that is taking place in Amsterdam, up to the AHP End of waste decree in Italy. The digital version of the Booklet is available for online consultation in the Result Section of this website.
BBI Stakeholder forum 2019
Embraced project’s work will be presented during the Second Edition of the BBI Stakeholder Forum in Brussels, on the 4th of December 2019, together with other 100 projects granted by Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking. The event will facilitate an open discussion about impacts, achievements and strategic direction of the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking program, as well as the latest developments in the biobased industries sector. The program includes keynote speeches, plenary and parallel sessions. Among a rich group of high level speakers, Marcello Somma, FaterSMART Head of Research and Development, will participate in the 3d Session Panel “Stable, supportive and coherent policies: the road to the biobased products uptake”.The pilot program of AHP waste separate collection to win Nudging for Good Awards
Pampers (P&G) was awarded for its separate AHP collection pilot program in Amsterdam, developed within the Embraced project, at the 2019 edition of the Nudging for Good Awards, organized by the AIM-European Brands Association (which gathers more than 1,800 brands). The ceremony was held in October 2019 in the Concert Noble in Brussels. Recycling, nutrition and gender equality were the main topics rewarded this year. The Nudging for Good Awards highlight brands’ initiatives using a nudge approach to encourage consumers to adopt sustainable behaviours. This approach consists in creating a choice architecture which encourages individuals, without constraint, to adopt behaviours that are good for themselves, the community, and the planet.P&G tested the nudge in Amsterdam to encourage diapers recycling, installing 12 smart bins in the center of the city in high frequency areas and providing an App that allowed families to enter the program, locate the closest bin, open it and track the impact made with the diapers disposal. This innovative pilot program was worth a Diamond Award, thanks to its smart use of digital and because it helps parents dealing with an environmental problem, ensuring a more sustainable approach to diaper waste through recycling.
ISWA
From October 7 to October 9 FaterSMART attended the ISWA (International Solid Waste Association) World Congress at Bilbao. The ISWA World Congress is a global meeting which includes high level plenaries where waste management professionals, government officials, industry leaders, policy makers, scientists and young professionals meet to exchange views and opinions to advance scientific and technical knowledge for sustainable solid waste management. Since its beginning, the ISWA World Congress has been considered as the industry's leading solid waste management event. The ISWA World Congress 2019 was the event's 29 th edition, and it was expected to attract over 1,200 delegates from across the globe. On October 8, FaterSMART presented Embraced project during the meeting "Closing the loop of Absorbent Hygiene Products (AHP): turning this type of waste into high value products" a roundtable moderated by Marco Ricci, Chair of ISWA Working Group on Biological Treatment of Waste (Italy) in which attended Giuseppe Landolfo, International Expansion Manager, FaterSMART (Italy), Marco Mattiello, International Relations Manager, Contarina (Italy), Luca Torresan, Sales and Marketing Manager, Sartori Ambiente (Italy), Germán Granda, General Manager, Foretica (Spain), Orkatz Goenaga Ormazabal, Technical head of Environmental department, Urola Erdiko Mankomunitatea (Spain), Victor Mitjans Sanz, Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona (Spain).
EFIB
EFIB is the European Forum for Industrial Biotechnology & the Bioeconomy (EFIB), where delegates are provided with an update on the status and outlook of biobased industries. EFIB fosters engagement between policy makers, a broad range of stakeholders connected with the existing bio-based value chain and seeks to reach out to, and include, new interlocutors. From September 30 to October 2 2019 in Bruxelles, Embraced research was presented at Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking stand with other three funded selected projects: Effective, Biosmart and Fresh. Furthermore, the secondary raw materials obtained from AHP waste through Embraced innovative recycling technology, were displayed at the Showcase Lounge “Materials & Packaging”, together with products developed by chemicals and waste management companies looking for circular strategies to create bio-based polymers.
Storie dal futuro migliore
On the occasion of the Biotech Week, Assobiotec organized the event “Storie dal futuro migliore” at Talent Garden Calabiana in Milan. The event scope was to represent Italian companies and experiences that work to give future generations a safer, healthier, more sustainable future, thanks to biotechnologies.
Novamont presented its research developed for Embraced project within the area “Biotechnologies and Bioeconomy”, a space dedicated to the bioeconomy “sustainable revolution”, the sector that uses renewable biological resources from land and sea to offer products and solutions for everyday life. A new production and inclusive and efficient consumption model. Through biotechnologies and research, Innovative biochemicals can be obtained such as biobutanediol, used for the bioplastics production and a wide range of applications in the textile sectors, electronics and automotive.
Ecoforum Legambiente
The innovative AHPs recycling technology at the core of Embraced project was presented during EcoForum Rifiuti, the Italian conference of waste and circular economy. The event was organized by Legambiente, the leading environmental organization in Italy, La Nuova Ecologia and Kyoto Club, under the patronage of Ministero dell'Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio e del Mare and Regione Lazio, in collaboration with CONAI and CONOU. The conference was held in Rome, on the 26th and 27th of June. Marcello Somma, Director of R&D and Business Development of FATER SMART, talked about the virtuous example of the world's first AHPs recycling technology during the morning session on the 27th of June, "The new circular economy markets".
Blueprint, legislative barriers and stakeholders involvement: new deliverables available
In May 2019, the Embraced Consortium produced three relevant deliverables, publicly available in the Results section of this website.
Within the Work Package 6, which is in charge of the Legislative framework, standardization and social acceptance of the project, Legambiente drew up the report “Policy recommendation to overcome legislative barriers for the recovery of AHP waste as secondary raw material”. The study proposes regulatory recommendations regarding AHPs, based on best evidence from diverse countries and the most advanced processes. It adopts both a national and European focus. The main recommendations made foster the consolidation of “circular” policies and take as a model existing EoW criteria related to Absorbent Hygiene Products (AHP) which are currently under approval or formalisation in Italy or other EU states.
The “Blueprint for the replication of the AHP pretreatment technology” was produced by Contarina within the Work Package 1, responsible for the Optimized waste logistic and feedstock preparation. The report provides guidelines for the replication in Europe and worldwide for the unique AHP waste recycling solution developed and patented by FaterSmart.
Lastly, the Deliverable 7.13 “Intermediate report on the roundtable with external stakeholders” refers to Work Package 7 running the Dissemination, exploitation and replication of Embraced project. Contarina set up a group of stakeholders interested in the project, in order to develop networks and collaboration, to help in gaining acceptance through the value chain and in paving the ground towards future replication of the biorefinery model. The report illustrates the work done in this sense, from the identification of relevant stakeholders to the activities aimed at engaging the group.
Embraced plenary meeting M24
After the first two years of implementation, Embraced partners met in Pescara, Italy, the 6th of June 2019. The main outcomes from the tasks completed and the deliverables submitted were shared with all the partners, and an action plan was discussed to achieve further progresses in the project development. The contents of the three latest public deliverables were presented: a report on the policy recommendations to overcome legislative barriers to the AHP waste valorization, produced by Legambiente; the Blueprint for the replication of the AHP pretreatment technology, and an Intermediate Report on the Stakeholder group meetings, both realised by Contarina. To learn more about the contents of these documents, please consult the Result section.
The Italian Minister of the Environment visits Contarina
The 23rd of May, the Italian Minister for the Environment and the Protection of the Land and the Sea, Sergio Costa, visited the Valorization and Recycling Center at Contarina Spa, an example of circular economy in waste management in 49 Municipalities of the Treviso area, partner of the Embraced consortium. The company, thanks to the door-to-door collection with a pay-as-you-throw policy has reached an 85% separate collection rate, and it can further increase thanks to the future development of the innovative AHPs recycling plant, finally operating at 100% as a result of the signing of the End of Waste decree. A technical-institutional visit to get to know Contarina, an example in the waste management sector, and to take a close look of the innovative plant for the recycling of Absorbent Hygiene Products installed at the Spresiano site and built by Fater Spa.
Second Embraced Stakeholder Group Meeting
20 stakeholders from 11 different countries, mainly waste operators, universities, international organizations and public authorities constitutes Embraced stakeholder group. Embraced 2nd Stakeholder Group meeting was hosted by BBI JU in Brussels, the 14th of May 2019. The meeting was focused on the legislative barriers to AHP waste recycling in Europe, with a focus on the implementation of End of Waste criteria for this specific waste stream and the related market uptake of the secondary raw materials recovered through the EMBRACED project. After the greetings from BBI JU, Embraced project was presented to the stakeholders, as well as the main results achieved after two years. The End of waste criteria progresses and learnings were analyzed from the Italian and Dutch perspective, the two poles of the project. Moreover, the European framework for the recovery of AHP waste as secondary raw materials was examined through the outcomes of the analysis developed by Embraced. To learn more about Embraced stakeholder group and the topics discussed during the meetings you can consult the D7.13 Intermediate Report on Stakeholder Meetings in the Results section.
AHP waste recycling legislation in Italy: green light from the Ministry of Environment
The End of Waste decree signed the 15th of May, by Minister Sergio Costa establishes the criteria that allows materials deriving from the recycling of diapers and feminine care products to be transformed and qualified as secondary raw materials that can be returned into the production process. A signature long overdue, which allows the development of a real circular economy and gives new impetus to the waste sector throughout the national territory. In the green economy sector, Italy marks an important record: the decree is the first, in Europe and worldwide, to establish the specific criteria for the cessation of waste qualification of this type of products. The unique technology developed by Fater for the recycling of AHP waste at Contarina plant, in Lovadina di Spresiano, can finally become fully operational. "A great day for circular economy – stated Sergio Costa - today I signed the decree allowing an all Italian industry that combines recycling and the consequent reduction of the problem of waste disposal to finally take off, with the creation of many jobs". Thanks to the decree, it will be possible to recover 900,000 tons of waste per year, avoiding landfilling or incineration. Starting from the first plant built at the Contarina site, the creation of another 60 micro-plants throughout the country is expected with the creation of over 1,000 new jobs.
Innovative smart bins for AHP waste recycling in the center of Amsterdam
Procter and Gamble, Terracycle, AEB and FaterSMART teamed up to launch an innovative AHP waste collection pilot program in Amsterdam. The diaper waste collection pilot was launched on Jan 9th 2019, and involved 200 families that volunteered to join, in three Amsterdam neighborhoods. The innovative “smart bins” technology allows parents to deposit diaper waste from all brands easily. The bins were installed in front of Etos drugstores or Companay & Partout daycares. They can be opened through a mobile App, which presents the consumer with an overview of the environmental benefits of recycling diapers and guides him through the recycling programme. The App locates the nearest available Smart bin and generates a bar code to unlock it. When the Smart bin closest to the consumer is full or under maintenance, the consumer can pick in the App the second nearest bin. After dropping their AHP waste, consumers can track their personal contribution to the environment as well as the collective contribution of their neighbourhood. Through Embraced project work, a revolutionary recycling technique for AHP waste will be implemented in the Netherlands, allowing to produce high-value products from secondary raw materials, such as fabric bags, moisture absorbent products and plastic bottle caps.
