Luis Díaz's thesis receives the Margarita Salas award

Ramon Machuca Vicente

The thesis 'Valorization of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste via an integrated photobiorefinery' obtained the grade of outstanding with a cum laude mention. The work defends the search for sustainable alternatives for the efficient management of waste within the framework of the Circular Economy in the face of the foreseeable depletion of material resources.

The project has been supervised by Juan Antonio Melero Hernández, Professor of Chemical Engineering and coordinator of the Biomass and Bioenergy research line in the Doctorate Program in Industrial Technologies and by Daniel Puyol, Ramón y Cajal researcher in the area of ​​Chemical Engineering. both researchers from the URJC in the Chemical and Environmental Engineering Group. The work was also the beneficiary of an ODS award at the URJC.

The thesis is closely linked to the European BBI DEEP PURPLE project, which focuses on the study of the recovery of resources from the organic fraction of urban solid waste and municipal wastewater to obtain bioproducts (fertilizers, bioplastics, ectoine ). The 'DEEP PURPLE' concept bases its name on the metabolism of the Purple Phototrophic Bacteria (PPB), which is capable of assimilating large quantities of organic matter and nutrients present in wastewater, transforming them into products of interest in the absence of oxygen and using them as energy source sunlight.

With the delivery of this award, the Madrid City Council intends to reward those doctoral theses defended at universities in the Community of Madrid, during the 2021 and 2022 academic years and that stand out for their scientific excellence. The Margarita Salas awards also value the interest and scientific impact of the topic, as well as the practical applications of the research content.