For many people, the idea that food waste can become high technology raw materials often sounds far-fetched. Yet one company, Elche-based Greene Corporate, is turning that notion into progress. A collaboration brings together Alcoyana Serpis Olives, the University of Alicante, and the Textiles Technology Institute, AITEX, to convert olive bones and the brine from packaging into activated carbon. This initiative explores how these byproducts can power clean processes and new materials.
Specifically, the project aims to validate the use of these activated carbons as catalysts and filters. They envision materials suitable for batteries and water treatment, examining whether the product can treat its own brine to remove fermentation byproducts, suspended organics, and phenolic compounds generated during olive production.
Among the most promising applications is high-purity activated carbon for supercapacitors, a key component in energy storage. This sector is vital for supporting renewable energy sources such as solar power, which deliver significant energy only during certain hours of the day.
Venture capital fund Miura Partners has signed an agreement to acquire Aceitunas El Serpis
Thus, the core goal of the study is to develop a comprehensive and innovative industrial process. The plan uses olive industry waste as the feedstock, undergoing pyrolysis to yield a value-added product that can drive new business opportunities.
pilot plant
For the development of the research project named CarbonPlus, Greene operates its pilot facility in the Elche Business Park. A range of tests will be conducted on olive residues supplied by Serpis, with the goal of producing a new raw material through Greene’s proprietary technology.
This initiative forms part of the strategic projects program of the Valencia Innovation Agency and the Generalitat Valenciana, with funding from the European Union. Results are expected in 2024 as the study progresses.
Greene, founded in 2011, began as a venture by four entrepreneurs from Elche. Today it employs more than 45 people. The company offers a technology platform designed to manage and repurpose waste products without incineration or disposal in landfills. Its focus spans urban solid waste, industrial waste, biomass, and water treatment sludges.
When waste becomes energy
Greene’s facilities enable the transformation of waste into sustainable raw materials such as oils, calcium carbonate-rich loads, activated carbon, synthetic waxes, and hydrogen through heat-based conversion.
Hydrogen
The potential of olive industry waste goes beyond Greene’s work. Alicante-based Aceitunas Cazorla is leading a project to extract methane and hydrogen from brine in partnership with the Valencia Innovation Agency, the Ainia Technology Center, and the Ceramics Technology Institute.
References: [Cited: Greene], [Cited: Serpis], [Cited: AVI], [Cited: Ainia], [Cited: ITC].