Premifab and the Zagreb Faculty of Geotechnics Present New Technologies for the Recovery of Solvents and Other Hazardous Waste

The Faculty of Geotechnics of the University of Zagreb and the company Premifab, which deals with the regeneration of waste solvents, held the final conference of the IRI2 project ‘Development of New Technology for More Efficient Recovery of Solvents and Other Types of Hazardous Waste’, according to a statement from the higher education institution and the company. The total value of the project is over €1.76 million, half of which is co-financed by EU funds.

This project, as stated, develops an innovative technology for processing distillation residues into useful raw materials for further products, which can find application in the construction industry and road construction in the form of additives for asphalt bases and bitumen pastes, as well as in the paint and varnish industry in the form of coatings for anti-corrosion protection and additives for nitro paints.

– New solutions for the regeneration of waste sludge will further reduce the total amount of industrial waste generated. A new product will be created from waste, thus reaffirming the circular economy in the management of hazardous waste. In six years of our operations, we have recovered over 10,000 tons of hazardous waste and returned more than 8,000 tons of clean product back to the industry, while enabling significant reductions in harmful CO2 emissions. Sustainable business while respecting the environment is our absolute priority now and in the future – said Igor Podravac, the business development director of Premifab and one of the company’s co-founders, emphasizing that the company follows the end of waste principle in everything it does.

The chemical industry produces a significant amount of waste, and according to some estimates, more than 55 million tons of waste is produced in the European Union, of which 6 million tons is hazardous waste. In Croatia, the chemical industry produces about 25,000 tons of waste, of which three thousand tons is hazardous waste, more than half of which can be recovered and reused.

The project ‘Development of New Technology for More Efficient Recovery of Solvents and Other Types of Hazardous Waste’ is one of 23 Croatian projects in the field of research, development, and innovation that received a total of nearly one billion kuna in non-repayable funds from the European Union in 2020, amid the pandemic. The project’s interest is confirmed by the fact that the company was visited by a delegation from the European Commission at the end of last year, who were informed about the project’s goals and the impact it will have on various industries and the environment in a broader sense.