Circular economy ecosystem (CECO): raw materials from waste and side streams

The aim of this project is to utilize various waste and by-product streams as raw materials for new products. The project utilizes the anaerobic fermentation process in a new way, so that in addition to biogas, organic acids can be produced from biowaste. This will be accomplished by optimizing the acid phase of the anaerobic process, for which the Natural Resources Institute Finland has long-term expertise in several different projects. The residue from the anaerobic process is combined with power plant ash, and the use of this recycled raw material as a fertilizer will be investigated. After purification, the organic acids produced can be used as industrial raw materials, or further utilized to recover metals from electronic waste. University of Jyväskylä has extensive experience in recovery of metals by hydrometallurgical methods, and the utilization of organic acids in the treatment of electronic waste has been preliminarily studied in a previous ERDF project (Circular Economy Research Platform CEREP, 2019-2021).

[https://www.jyu.fi/science/en/chemistry/research/chemistry-circular-ecosystem/circular-economy-ecosystem-frontpage] https://www.jyu.fi/science/en/chemistry/research/chemistry-circular-ecosystem/circular-economy-ecosystem-frontpage