I University Conference about Sustainable Development

Waste management at Gotarrendura


The inhabitants in Gotarrendura, a small village in Ávila, are the main protagonists  in the pilot project of waste reduction, according to the information provided in the I University Conference about Sustainable Development.

The Mayor, Fernando Martín, was in charge of the project presentation in the closing Meeting of this conference where the “effort” in Castilla and León concerning waste management, was mentioned.

Moreover, the perspectives of using hydrogen as an energetic vector were shown, as the production of this gas requires a great amount of energy and complicated technological processes, such as water hydrolysis, whereas a alternative would be an anaerobic digestion of biowaste, which produces hydrogen as a process sub-product, saving energy and money.

Pilot Project

The project in Gotarrendura involves the active participation of every inhabitant in the village and the economical benefits can be assessed in the reduction of cost; for example, nowadays the tax for waste collecting is 23 euros and it is supposed to increase in future years. But, with this iniciative a reduction in waste production would mean not to make this tax higher.

This project, born from a socio-environmental necessity, has a first aim “deep implication”, both from inhabitants in Gotarrendura and other twenty small villages nearby. 

Individual responsibility, waste energetic value, bio-fuel production, administration support or containers and board recovery have been dealt with as well in this conference launched by the Catholic University and the province authorities. The conference has been a kind of platform to make attendants and people in Ávila aware of the importance of a good waste management because if it is not done properly it will become one of our greatest environmental problems.

Translated from the information in aviladigital.com