Minos - Process development for an integrated olive oil mill waste management recovering natural antioxidants and producing organic fertilizer

Wastewater produced by the olive oil-mills constitutes a major environmental problem for the agriculture sector, due to its heavily polluted nature and to inappropriate wastewater management practices. This project involved the development of a high-technology process for the recovery of natural anti-oxidants from olive oil mill wastewater which contains chemical compounds with significant pharmacological, biological and chemical properties of high added value. The project demonstrated that the polluting liquid waste from olive oil mills can be successfully filtered and extracted to retrieve valuable polyphenols which have a high market value. This involved the development of a viable process for the integrated management of olive oil mill waste through the recovery of bioactive natural substances of high added value and the production of natural fertilizer. Another target of the project was the reduction of the water consumption by recycling it and reducing the energy demand of the process using the olive oil mill solid waste as solid fuels.