ECODIPTERA
ECODIPTERA project, co-financed by the European program LIFE (the Financial Instrument for the Environment), aims at showing an innovative method of treating pig manure. The huge volume of pig manure generated across Europe, and its daily use as fertiliser for agriculture, is responsible for causing serious environmental problems.
Background
In 1998 the Province of Valencia began a study on the condition of pig farms in the province by establishing the "Strategic Plan for Slurry Management and Treatment". After examining the status of the farms in the province, the possible impact on the environment was assessed. To carry out the study, the Province of Valencia financed environmental audits in all the towns of the Serranos area. The results obtained through the environmental audits highlighted the worries of the populations concerning pig farms, mainly problems with smells and pollution of groundwater. With this information, the Province of Valencia has been working for several years in setting up the ECODIPTERA project, whose objective is to reduce the aforementioned problems through implementating the natural decomposition processes of manure and slurry.
Bearing in mind that problems related to slurry and manure management arise not only in Spain, but the rest of the European Union as well, the Province of Valencia will become an international reference point for resolving these problems through the ECODIPTERA project.
Objectives of the project
The main objective of the ECODIPTERA project is to implement a sustainable, alternative method for the management of slurry and manure. To do so, the natural decomposition process of biological organic matter will be applied to achieve industrial scale decomposition.
This decomposition process will be carried out through a series of dipterans that are capable of transforming slurry and manure into a high quality organic fertiliser to be used for soil correction.
Among the specific objectives the following are highlighted:
- Introduction of a new waste management method based on minimising farm waste at the source
- Establishing an innovative model in Europe for the natural treatment of slurry and manure by taking advantage of the decomposing potential of insects
- Transforming waste into a resource in a natural, sustainable way of 70% of the waste
- Minimising the main environmental impacts: smells and pollution of soil
- Carrying out dissemination and environmental awareness campaigns.
- Modifying environmental legislation through the definition of by-laws for the control of slurry dumping / spillages
Participants in the project
The beneficiary of the project is the Province of Valencia, through its Environmental service. It is the leader of the ECODIPTERA project constituted by an important European consortium made up of:
- Centro Iberoamericano de la Biodiversidad (CIBIO) belonging to the University of Alicante which specialises in the study of dipteran larvae.
- Natural History Museum of Finland, integrated in the University of Helsinki and which is responsible for the genetic classification of species or varieties of dipterans involved in the process.
- Slovak Academy of Sciences, which has wide experience in mass breeding of dipterans and in bio-decomposition of poultry manure.
- Fundación Comunidad Valenciana Región Europea. This non-profit organisation specialises in promoting multi-sectorial interests in the Valencian Community before the European Community organisations in Brussels.
- Ambienta: a Valencian company specialising in the management of European projects.
- Red de Municipios Valencianos hacia la Sostenibilidad, with wide experience in consultancy regarding the implementation of Local Agenda 21.