Did you know that Sabesp has already had a partnership with one of our institutes?  

One of Fraunhofer's strengths is generating biofuel through waste. Fraunhofer IGB was a partner in a pioneering project to generate biogas and biomethane through sewage, powering a car fleet of 20 vehicles in the city of Franca, with Audi's participation. The project ended in 2018 and had an investment of R$7.4 million.   

Another amazing project in Brazil focuses on the product disposal part and uses recycling as a way to reintroduce plastic waste (PET) into the production chain. To enable these solutions, Fraunhofer ICT has teamed up with USP to develop an innovative technology for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and other products with a circular economy focus. To help Fraunhofer in its journey to become a reference in sustainability in Brazil, in addition to partnerships with leading universities, Fraunhofer ICT is also a partner of the company RITTEC that creates technological concepts focused on circular economy. 

Fraunhofer helps in the Brazilian pioneering when it comes to bioeconomy, relying mainly on the Fraunhofer IVV. In one of the projects, the institute helps to develop innovations for agricultural waste and intelligent use of water, since 52% of Brazil's water use is for irrigation. There is no way to think about agriculture without thinking about the management of water resources. These are part of the whole chain that involves the bioeconomy, and their integration with waste treatment has become fundamental for the development of sustainable production.  

Developing intelligent ways to use agricultural waste in a country as important as Brazil in this area is to collaborate towards a more sustainable future and to meet the growing demands of the international market for ESG (Environment, Sustainability and Governance) practices. Fraunhofer IVV has a partnership of more than 10 years with the Food Technology Institute (ITAL) in the city of Campinas, São Paulo, developing significant projects in waste treatment with several agricultural products (Fraunhofer Innovation Platform at ITAL Campinas).

One of the pioneer projects developed at ITAL is the utilization of mango residues, which usually has half of its final product discarded after consumption. Using an extremely sophisticated technology to treat this waste through drying, Fraunhofer IVV and ITAL are able to generate a nutritious final product that is used in several food products such as panettones and chocolates.  

More details about other projects and applications with banana and macaúba peel can be seen in this video "Use of agro-industrial residues for food and technical applications".

Fraunhofer UMSICHT is one of the most committed institutes working towards the circular economy and leads several waste treatment projects in Germany and worldwide. With a focus on developing and implementing recycling technologies, the institute aims to become the benchmark for a sustainable future. In Germany, they pioneered the recycling of masks during the pandemic, reusing this huge amount of waste for creative solutions that contribute to the environment. Overseas, they run projects in Tunisia, Kuwait, Ghana, and Iran. In Tunisia, the institute focuses on recycling island installations per municipality and expansion of electrical appliances. In Kuwait, the €18 million project transits several areas such as an industrial waste, construction waste, agricultural waste, hospital waste, and industrial wastewater. In Ghana, the treatment of electronic waste is the main focus of its activities. In Iran, state-of-the-art technologies from Germany are the differential for the recycling projects in the country.  

Fraunhofer UMSICHT developed a technology to reuse the masks that have been so widely used in recent years!

The "Waste4Future" project has brought together 7 Fraunhofer institutes to develop innovative solutions for recycling plastics. The reuse of carbon from plastic is one of the main apstects of this project to meet the high demands of the chemical industry. The so-called "green" product wants to intensify the circular carbon economy so that the "waste of today is the resource of tomorrow". The institutes are working with the mapping of the entire product life cycle to understand the main challenges of the chemical industry, the construction of recycling facilities, and their operation for greater efficiency and faster results.  

TO-SYN-FUEL was a project funded by the European Union under EU Horizon 2020 to build, operate and demonstrate the production of synthetic fuels and green hydrogen from biomass. The project focuses on the European Commission's resolutions on renewable energy, with the intention of reducing conventional biofuels to make room for sustainable fuels and raw materials, which are currently in short supply. TCR® technology is revolutionizing the market by converting waste and biomass into three main products Bio-Oil, Syngas, and Organic Coal. From this separation, the technology can transform syngas into biogas ready to be used for transportation! The pilot plant project turns 500 Kg/h of biomass into 50 L/h of biogas, an impressive result to replace fossil fuels and promote cleaner energy on the planet.        

The LaubCycle project seeks actions for climate-neutral energy production by recycling leaf nutrients and reducing costs for recycling companies. The idea is to use this technology for the cost-effective extraction of fuel for power plants and the use of compost ash on municipal, agricultural, and private land.  

Fraunhofer develops projects to contribute to society and waste treatment is one of the main focuses in generating sustainability and economically sustainable solutions. Small, medium and large cities faces waste challenges and its disposal is often done in a way that is harmful to the environment, besides not being reused. Fraunhofer makes intensive efforts to treat this material and its projects in Brazil and worldwide provide technological advancement for the environment, in a clean and sustainable way. 

Written by:

Lívia Moraes