EARTO Award for innovation in Europe

Artzai Picón, Ana Ayerbe and Iñaki San Sebastian collecting the EARTO Award

How to manage waste has become one of the most important paradigms of contemporary society. Lots of electrical and electronic equipment are designed, manufactured and finally discarded, since this type of waste is not biodegradable and can be highly toxic . TECNALIA has developed a new recycling system for classifying waste electrical and electronic equipment which can not be ordered by the classical procedures because of its similarities in color, weight and shape. Up to 1,200 firms operating in the recycling industry can save 10% on their cost of recycling with this new system, which has been awarded with theEARTO award, which honors the most innovative projects at European level.

This system detects 98% of the different waste electrical and electronic equipment which can not be ordered by the classical procedures because of its similarities in color, weight and shape, and classifies them in real time through optical descriptors. In addition, the system is able to reduce by 10% of the cost of the recycling companies, ie those derived from the destruction and disposal. With this system, the sector can get about 400 tons of aluminum a year, 40% higher than that obtained with traditional systems, which could involve a direct benefit of 600,000 euros per year.

Economic,environmental and social savings. This system will improve the quality of the working conditions of workers engaged in this work that are currently exposed to hazardous components.

EARTO Award for Innovation

EARTO is the European organization representing research and technology organisations including more than 300 from 26 countries and awarded each year since 2009 the EARTO Innovation Award to reward the best innovations of its members and putting highlight their role in a modern economy and European innovation.

The purpose of this organization is to promote strategic research to develop new knowledge and technologies for future implementation, promote the transfer of knowledge to ensure the widest possible dissemination; promoting collaboration between different research institutions to develop technologies and applications. And this year have recognized that the detection system created by TECNALIA is among the best developments in 2011 by the benefits of the economic, environmental and social support for European companies.

Along with TECNALIA have also been awarded projects from companies such as SINTEF and TNO. The first is the largest organization of research and technology in the Scandinavian countries and has over 2,100 employees in 69 countries. On the other hand, TNO is a research and technology organization in the Netherlands that focuses its work in the areas of quality of life, science, industry, construction, earth sciences and information and communication technologies

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