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ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY: INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT OF WASTES
The different types of wastes constitute a great loss, which should be minimised, of raw materials and energy in fact, so much that they can be considered resourses that have gone to waste.
Traditionally, R+D activities have been more concerned with the manufacture of products and the management of final waste materials than with the minimisation of waste and the prevention of pollution. On the othe hand, the increase in manufacturing activities, the growing concern for the environment and the lack of resources force us to see waste materials as potential resourses.
In such a context, the area of Environmental Technology is working on the application of new technologies for the evaluation of wastes or by-products, combining eco-efficiency and profitability. This makes it possilbe to keep on with the industries that are necessary for creating wealth while at the same time provide greater protection for the environment. Despite the fact that the production of waste will never cease altogether no matter how hard we try, the ATA also has experience in the study of the behaviour of wastes and how to stabilize it prior to depositing it in controlled dump sites.
As well as that, they carry out activities related to the Analysis of the Life Cycle (Anàlisi de Cicle de Vida ACV) of products and processes which also take into account the fact that its impact on the environment is not only linked to the beginning and end of the life cycle, but also to the time it is in use - "from the cradle to the grave". ACV studies follow a methodology that consists basically in drawing up a inventory of the consumption (material and energy) and emissions during each of the stages in the life cycle, an Evaluation of the Impacts that such comsumption and emissions could have on the environment.
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