CDTI PROJECT. ECOCEL
Advanced and safe materials and processes based on the concept of circular economy applied to olive oil by-products for agri-food packaging and sustainable, high-quality construction.
About ECOCEL
The continuous tightening of environmental regulations and the need to reduce carbon footprints to ensure the sustainability of companies’ industrial activities have driven (among other measures) the search for sustainable materials in sectors such as packaging and construction.
Law 7/2022 on Waste and Contaminated Soil and Royal Decree 1055/2022 on packaging have restricted the use of conventional plastics in the food industry, affecting manufacturers and packagers. In the construction sector, the urgent need to reduce emissions and improve energy efficiency has accelerated the adoption of environmentally friendly materials. At the same time, the olive oil sector, which is key to the Andalusian economy, generates large volumes of underutilised by-products, such as olive pomace and olive pits, whose recovery represents an opportunity to develop innovative solutions in line with the circular economy.
In this context, the project “ECOCEL: Advanced and safe materials and processes based on the concept of the circular economy applied to olive oil by-products for agri-food packaging and sustainable, high-quality construction” project, whose main objective is to investigate the recovery of by-products from the olive oil industry to develop new bio-based materials with direct applications in food packaging specifically for olive oil and sustainable construction, thus promoting the circular economy and sustainability in these sectors.
The ECOCEL consortium, led by ACESUR, brings together companies with complementary expertise in the recovery of olive oil by-products, packaging and sustainable construction. ACESUR contributes its knowledge in the transformation of by-products into bioadditives and bioplastics. TESELA, an SME linked to the University of Granada, develops sustainable construction materials with lignocellulosic additives. ADVPET, an expert in biodegradable packaging, designs innovative bottles using bioplastics. In addition, the consortium has the support of AINIA and AITIIP, leading research centres that contribute their expertise in advanced technologies for the development, validation and optimisation of new bio-based materials.
The ECOCEL project is currently underway and is scheduled for completion in June 2028.
The ECOCEL project has been co-financed by the Centre for Technological Development and Innovation, E.P.E. (CDTI) and by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), within the framework of the Spanish Multi-regional Programme ERDF 2021-2027, and has the support of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.
