RECUWASTE 2018 award LIFE Zero Cabin Waste project

• #Waste Management

• Share it:

The RECUWASTE 2018 Congress, held from October 8 to 9 in Mataró (Barcelona), acknowledges the presentation of the ‘LIFE Zero Cabin Waste* Project – Tackling international airline catering waste by demonstrating integral and safe recollection, separation & treatment,’ aimed to reduce, reuse and recycle waste collected on airplanes.

The session “LIFE Zero Cabin Waste Project: Management of aviation waste. Environmental impacts from the perspective of the LCA,” by Gonzalo Blanca-Alcubilla, PhD Candidate of the Waste Management Research Line at the Chair, has received the “Alfonso Maíllo” Prize for the best innovative work on waste management, chosen through the vote of those attending the congress.

The LIFE Zero Cabin Waste Project “is intended to study the different waste streams generated in the aircraft cabin, to propose minimization measures and to implement separation of residues, as well as the collection and treatment of the different flows of waste,” explains Blanca-Alcubilla. During the presentation of his work at RECUWASTE, the researcher highlighted the impacts of the current catering waste management system in terms of greenhouse gases emissions, prior to the implementation of the selective collection. These environmental impacts associated with all the stages of the system has been measured applying Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology, and the work focuses on the stages with the greatest impact, which should be corrected.

Alba Bala, senior researcher coauthor of this work and leader of the Waste Management Research Line, has supported the implementation of the LCA methodology to analyse the environmental impacts of the system and find possible solutions towards its mitigation.

About RECUWASTE

In line with the evolution that is taking place globally in the field of resource management, under the new paradigm of the circular economy, the RECUWASTE 2018 Congress organised a workshop series and conferences to raise awareness among businesses and consumers.

*The ZERO CABIN WASTE (LIFE / ENV / ES209) Project is co-funded by the European Union through the LIFE Program. The project partners are Iberia, Gate Gourmet, Ecoembes, Biogas Fuel Cell, Ferrovial and ESCI-UPF.