Food waste management: the case of biofuels (30 January 2019)

19 November 2018 Webinars

This webinar presented the EU-funded project BIOHEC-LIFE to discuss the case of biofuels as a food waste management solution. BIOHEC-LIFE aims at exploiting used cooking oils (UCO) for the production of environmentally-friendly biofuel while promoting the social economy sector. The discussion focused on how municipalities can use this as an opportunity to meet climate targets, acting in partnership with private social companies and facing the constraints of public markets.

The European Union aims to achieve the goal of a 10% share of renewables in the transport sector by 2020. This ambitious objective has allowed the development of the first biofuel sectors whose environmental balance is now questioned. In fact, these so-called first-generation biofuels use for their production crops originally intended for food.

To avoid this competition, a second generation of biofuels using raw materials from waste or non-food resources has emerged. Used food oils, waste from the food industry and catering, play a major role in the development of these new biodiesels which can contribute to reduce greenhouse gas emissions coming from petroleum-based fuels, as well as to achieve climate targets. Although their valorisation is encouraged by regulation, less than 40% of UCO are currently collected. Gecco, a solidarity-based company specialised in catering waste collection, decided to develop a new technology to recycle used vegetable oils into biodiesel.

Programme

Welcome and introduction (ACR+)
Presentation of the BIOHEC project (Michel Millares - President, Gecco)
The BIOHEC project in the city of Lille, France (Stephane Baly - Municipal Councilor on eneregy, Municipality of Lille)
Questions and answers
Conclusions (ACR+)