The system, which is unique in the world, allows waste from the citrus sector to be converted into high valued-added products for industrial use.
The company Citrotecno has started up a plant in Silla (Valencia) that recycles waste from citrus farms in the Community of Valencia and Murcia.
The “plant for the integrated treatment and appreciation in value of citrus products” is pioneering in the world for this task. After having successfully completed a one year trial period, during the recently begun agricultural season it will process between 120,000 and 150,000 tons of citrus waste, to be converted into bioethanol, essential oils, feed for livestock, purified water and irrigation water.
The technological development of this system has been the work of professors José Luis Gómez and Pedro Fito, from the Higher Technical School of Agronomical Engineering and Natural Environment (ETSIAMN), and researchers from the University Institute of Food Engineering for Development, which is part of the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (UPV).
According to Gómez: “Thanks to the technology that we have designed and which now begins its first season, not only will highly contaminating waste be eliminated, but it will be converted into products that can be sold to other industries, by which we not only care for the environment but also generate wealth.”
Other countries have already shown interest in this Spanish technology. Colombia has started discussions with those responsible for the project toward developing a plant based on the same principal in order to recycle citrus products, barley and coffee; Costa Rica has done the same for native crops such as pineapples and bananas.