Category: English

Participants of the “Naturvetarmästarna” competition in knowledge in natural sciences from 9th grade of Rosendalsgymnasiet visited our group at the Fly Larvae Composting Laboratory.
Björn Vinnerås, leader of the Environmental Engineering group, is introducing our vision and different directions of our research to the visitors. Photo: Evgheni Ermolaev.

The vision is to develop and evaluate technological solutions for safe and sustainable nutrient recycling from waste and wastewater to agriculture in a circular system.

The demonstration included two of several systems that the group is developing: organic waste management using black soldier fly larvae composting and sustainable fertilizer production through urine drying. Both system designs and components were presented and sparked multiple questions and discussions with the engaged pupils.

Working with K-12 pupils is a part of the ongoing group effort to introduce sustainable environmental engineering approaches to society and help in the effort of Sweden reaching the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Contact
Evgheni Ermolaev

In the project “Gamification of Sanitation Planning”, we are developing a serious game to support sanitation planning and increase the recovery of nutrients from waste flows. This fall we have had a series of workshops focusing on developing the game concept. The target group for the game is politicians and officials in decision-making positions. Other target groups are property owners, community-based organizations, students and other officials involved in sanitation planning. The aim of the game is to get the target group to understand what nutrient cycles are and what can be done to facilitate the construction of resource-recovery systems, i.e. how can different groups take responsibility? The game should also be fun to play, engaging, be able to inform about new technologies and lead to increased understanding of other actors’ perspectives. The game itself will be developed in early 2019 and be ready to test with audiences before the summer.

                                                                  On November 27^th, members of the Environmental Engineering group presented results at the MACRO final conference in Stockholm. The project MACRO (Food in Circular Robust Systems) aimed at stimulating innovation for source-separated management of urban organic waste flows within both municipalities and technology suppliers. The project has contributed to filling knowledge gaps regarding both technology and organizational structures. Through MACRO, more opportunities have been created for Swedish actors to develop cutting-edge knowledge in this area, which increases the opportunities for Sweden to positively contribute to the development of the sustainable cities of the future. Our group has contributed with research into the potential for black-soldier fly composting of food waste from kitchen grinders and studies of organizational prerequisites for implementing source-separated system.                       

Over the course of the year, our group has been intensively investigating urine dehydration – to better understand the technology, identify limitations, and pave the way for it to be successfully upscaled. In our latest development on this front, 8 urine dehydrators are being piloted at households across Uppsala, Sweden. Experinece from this pilot installation will surely help us better design, engineer, and implement the technology. The fertiliser end-products from the trials are to be shipped to France, where INRA, the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique will perform field growth trials using it.

The autumn’s most exciting conference on the future sewage system will take place on  November 27 in Stockholm! Sign up now for the project MACRO final conference – the participation fee is 500 kr. You will get to know MACRO’s results and conclusions and hear from experts and trusted speakers about:                                                                                                    What is the state of knowledge about technology and environmental benefits of sorting of waste and food waste?                                                                                                                                          What experiences are available from the first major projects in Sweden and Europe?              What benefits will the sewage system of the future create and how should we handle circular system solutions?

In addition, we and all of our MACRO 20 partners will be in place to tell you about our work. We are looking forward to meeting you in Stockholm on November 27th! Read more at https://vaguiden.se/2018/09/27-november-2018-slutkonferens-for-projektet-macro-mat-i-cirkulara-robusta-system/ ” 

Click here for conference program

Björn Vinnerås was at Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) as External Examiner at the Faculty of Engineering and Green Technology to evaluate their Master of Engineering Science and PhD education in Engineering. He had the chance of looking at their interesting and good structure of their education and looking through several interesting projects that they are performing. Among all projects, it was interesting to see the Black Sodier fly project where Dr. Leong Siew Yoong was looking into the potential of using the lipids from the larvae to produce biodiesel. During the visit, Björn also gave a guest lecture for the Environmental Engineering students, with many interesting questions and discussions.Group picture after the lecture at UTAR

Nordic Insect workshop focusing on development of insect production for feed and food was arranged by DTU and Nordic Working Group for Microbiology & Animal Health and Welfare (NMDD) In Roskilde, Denmark. Evgheni Ermolaev from our group and Bettina Julin from the Swedish National Food Agency represented Sweden at the meeting.