Joint project of Boke olive growers and ecologists: Olive pomace as a source of energy

The NGO Eco Center DELFIN from Kotor and the Boka Olive Society from Radanović have successfully completed the project "Sustainable management of waste from olive production" which lasted for the past six months.

The project was supported by a public competition for financing projects on organic waste management and waste composting of the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism. Agricultural producers - olive growers, members of MD Bok received composters with a volume of 750 liters as part of this project and underwent a two-day training for sustainable management of waste from olive production, the final result of which was the production of compost.

The project team of the DELFIN Eco Center and the Boka Olive Society, after the training, visited all the agricultural producers involved in the implementation of the project, together with them determined the best location for the installation of composters, filled the composters and periodically visited the olive groves during the composting process and monitored the composting process.

"The theory says that it takes at least 6-8 months, if the composting process is regularly monitored (checking the temperature, humidity of the compost material, mixing), to obtain compost from green waste, however, our practice has shown that in the Boka area, it is possible in a period of five months to obtain the final product compost, of high quality, thanks to favorable weather and climate conditions. This fact is in support of our long-standing advocacy of composting green waste from public and private areas and in agricultural production, because in addition to stopping the unsustainable management of this type of waste, the benefits are multiple in both ecological and economic terms." Eco Center DELFIN and Boka Olive Society.

They note that one of the main tasks in agriculture to fulfill the circular economy is the reduction and utilization of plant residues.

"Depending on the type and success of the process, more or less waste remains during the processing of agricultural crops, which in the case of olive processing is olive pomace and wastewater. Waste water and olive pomace represent an ecological problem due to the high content of organic matter, low pH, as well as the high content of phenols and lipids." - stated from these two NGOs, emphasizing that olive pomace is poorly or almost not used in Montenegro "because its potential is not recognized, so it most often ends up as waste, causing a harmful effect on the land, water, and therefore on people's health."

By the way, olive pomace, due to its good thermochemical characteristics, offers the possibility of potential utilization for energy purposes, while at the same time solving the problem of improper disposal. Compost has a high content of organic matter and minerals except sulfur, which represent a possible source of nutrients for the growth and development of plants, so composting is suggested as one of the most environmentally acceptable ways of its disposal.

"The energy value of pomace is about 20,7 MJ/kg. Comparing the energy values ​​of wood (17 MJ/kg) and coal (23 MJ/kg), wood chips can be used as an energy source and thus solve the problem of its inadequate disposal. The produced electricity can be used to start the collector, to produce thermal energy and the like. The advantage of using biomass as an energy source is the reduced emission of harmful gases and waste materials compared to fossil fuels.

Given the presence of polyphenols in olive pomace, which due to their antioxidant effect show a protective effect on DNA, which is why it can be used in creams and other personal hygiene products.