GISWASTE

Objective

Life GISWASTE is a local-level demo project which can be applied to any other European region which is struggling to manage its agrifood by-products.

The aim is to develop a GIS-based methodology and IT tool which simulates the technical, economic, and environmental viability of the recovery alternatives for the agrifood by-products (chiefly vegetables, meat, and dairy products) in the Basque Autonomous Community.

The recovery alternatives which are evaluated in the Life GISWASTE project focus on two specific areas: biogas generation and animal feed production.

The aim of the project is to:

• Assist in the decision-making process for governments and businesses, lowering the risk factor when electing which recovery alternative to choose.
• Reduce environmental risks in the implementation of new infrastructures, taking environmental factors into account and not just geographical and technical factors.
• Reduce costs by way of a preliminary evaluation of the economic feasibility of the proposals; simulating and comparing other possible alternatives.
• Foster synergies between different sources of by-products in order to provide comprehensive solutions to small firms who are struggling to install individualised solutions.
• Invigorate the by-product recovery sector, fostering the generation of new economic activities in this field.