Responsible Innovators Award, recognition for Biorg biomethane plant in 'Ecological Transition' category

The biomethane and compost production plant built in Spilamberto (MO) by Biorg, the NewCo born from the partnership between Herambiente (Hera Group) and Inalca (Cremonini Group), has received a mention for strategic objective in the Emilia Romagna Region's Responsible Innovators 2023 award in the 'Ecological Transition' category.

The award, now in its 13th edition, enhances the commitment of the business system toward the achievement of the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through innovation in processes, systems, partnerships, training actions, technologies and products. Biorg's CEO Paolo Cecchin has collected the award today during a ceremony held at the Golinelli Foundation in Bologna.

"Innovation and responsibility towards the environment and therefore towards the community are the principles that drove the Hera Group, through its subsidiary Herambiente, to promote this ambitious project in collaboration with Inalca," comments Biorg's CEO Paolo Cecchin.
"In Spilamberto, without wasting soil, we have built a plant that gives new life to waste, transforming it into 100% renewable fuel and fertilizer. The plant is therefore a great example of circular economy because it allows not only energy recovery but also material recovery."

"The realization of this plant with a company with know-how and technologies of excellence such as Hera, allows Inalca to further increase the production of biomethane, a renewable energy source particularly important in the sustainable mobility sector - explains Giovanni Sorlini, President of Biorg and Head of Sustainable Development at Inalca
- Not only that, thanks to the integration with the composting plant, Inalca is able to valorize the organic matter resulting from this process in its agricultural systems, according to a circular production model that allows to zero waste and improve the environmental performance of the breeding phase, while creating more value for the livestock supply chain."

Biorg's project to produce biomethane and compost

Thanks to a total investment of about 28 million euros and the use of the best available technologies, starting with the separate collection of organic waste and agro-food waste, the plant produces 3.7 million cubic meters of biomethane, a 100% renewable fuel destined for the transportation sector, and about 18 thousand tons of compost each year when fully operational. Specifically, the green methane is produced from the anaerobic digestion of organic waste from the separate waste collection carried out mainly in Modena and its province, from the waste produced by the processing of the local agri-food industry and from Inalca's meat production process. Once refined it becomes biomethane and can be destined for automotive use, promoting the decarbonization of mobility with consequent benefits on air quality.

As a result of feeding biomethane into the grid and using it for transportation, significant environmental benefits are also estimated: about 3 thousand tons of oil equivalent (TOE) of fossil fuel will be saved each year and CO2 emissions of about 7 thousand tons will be avoided. Not only that, waste from the plant itself eventually becomes high-quality compost for use in agriculture.

For more information:
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