The Alicante Project to Obtain Charcoal from Olive Pits

Obtaining activated charcoal from the remains and residues of manzanilla and hojiblanca table olives. This has been achieved with the CARBON+ project, a research initiative involving the Elche-based company Greene, Cándido Miró from Alcoy, as well as the research center Aitex and the University of Alicante.

The project has enabled the production of activated charcoals from olive residues, demonstrating "the feasibility of valorizing residues from the olive industry to obtain high-quality activated charcoals," according to sources from the research team. Additionally, its subsequent use in industry has been confirmed.

The research team states that the execution of this project "has led to several promising results, as we have managed to transform these olive pit residues into high-quality activated charcoals with high specific surface areas." It is worth noting that the adsorption capacity of activated charcoal is determined by its surface area; therefore, a larger surface area results in higher performance.

Furthermore, the tests have successfully validated the application of this charcoal, demonstrating its effectiveness as supercapacitors, odor removers for industrial wastewater, or for the adsorption of polyphenols to enable the reuse of brine within the olive industry's production process.