Valencia celebrates its LIFE project success

 The regional office of Valencia has this week been celebrating the success of the Valencian project Zero Plus in receiving an award as one of the best LIFE Environment projects 2009. It was rewarded as one of the five best projects in the ‘waste management' category along with another project from Spain and projects from Germany, France and Portugal.

Zero Plus worked to improve the galvanic processes and surface treatment industries by reducing polluting industrial waste. It set up an integrated liquid waste management model for surface treatment industries carrying out highly polluting activities. This project approached zero discharge from the productive chain by reducing the consumption of water through Best Available Techniques (BATs) in galvanic processes.

The project received its award along with the other selected LIFE projects on 2nd June, during Green Week - the biggest European annual event regarding environmental issues. The Director General of the Valencian Regional Office in Brussels, Mr. Juan Manuel Revuelta, picked up the prize on behalf of the beneficiary, the Metal-processing Technology Institute (AIMME).

Speaking during the ceremony in the Charlemagne building of the European Commission - head office to the Directorates General for Trade, External Relations and Enlargement - Mr Revuelta said: "it is a great honour to pick up this prize on behalf of AIMME because this is the second time that the European Commission has awarded the work carried out by this Institute." UrbanBAT (LIFE03 ENV/E/000160) also won a Best LIFE project award in 2004. It reduced the pollution generated by the Urban Transport Company (EMT) in Valencia by prolonging the life-span of products and reducing the water consumption of vehicle maintenance.

For more information on the project, please visit the project website or read the project summary (LIFE05 ENV/E/000256)