LIFE MySOIL

Improvements in mycoremediation technology for the recovery of contaminated soils.

The LIFE MySOIL project develops a competitive and innovative technology to demonstrate the feasibility of mycoremediation to full-scale configuration.

Mycoremediation is a type of bioremediation that uses fungal inocula to degrade (or accumulate) pollutants. The advantage of mycoremediation is that it retains the benefits of bioremediation treatments, including low economic, social and environmental costs, while increasing the removal efficiencies up to similar figures of thermal desorption.

Mycoremediation is a very widely studied technology at lab-scale and there exists a few experiences at bench-scale, a paucity of information is currently available regarding its scale transfer for further commercialization. In this sense, the main objective of the LIFE MySOIL project is to demonstrate the feasibility of mycoremediation technology at pilot scale for total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) removal by the gain of valuable insights into the conditions enabling a suitable, cost-effective, and sustainable full-scale mycoremediation treatment.

The main objectives of the project are:

• Eliminate petroleum-derived organic pollutants, including those of greater complexity and recalcitrance, from aged contaminated industrial soils.
• Promote and demonstrate mycoremediation as a key bioremediation technology for the recovery of the biological functionalities of contaminated soils.
• Reduce the environmental impacts of mycoremediation processes compared to conventional technologies.
• Promote the principle of circular economy, through the recovery of the soil and the use of agro-industrial by-products and urban waste.

Eurecat coordinates and participates in the project through the Water, Air and Soil Unit (WAS) the Waste, Energy and Environmental Impact Unit (WEEI), the Omic Sciences Unit, the Nutrition and Health Unit and the Consultancy Department. The consortium of the project also counts with the participation of 7 associated beneficiaries including the Madrid Autonomous University and the engineering KEPLER (Spain), University of Tucsia and the engineering Eni Rewind (Italy), the engineering VALGO (France), the fungal provider company Novobiom (Belgium) and the environmental consultancy providing services on monitoring Isodetect (Germany).