Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB
Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB

Soil improver from residues of olive oil production

Residues from the olive oil production.
Residues from the olive oil production.
Organic fertilizer pellets from fermented residues of olive oil production.
Pellets from digested residues of the olive mill production that can be used directly as organic fertilizers.

In the project En-X-Olive funded by the European Union (grant agreement no 2184442-2) we researched together with partners from Spain, Italy, Greece and France the recovery of biogas, polyphenols, and fertilizers from residues of olive oil production. The objective of the work package fertilizer recovery was to produce a compact organic soil improver from the digested residues of the olive oil mill industry. The digested residues were separated into their solid and liquid fractions and the solid fraction was dried and pelletized. The product was a competitive commercial fertilizer that could be stabilized, stored, transported and spread with common fertilizer spreaders used in agriculture.