On October 16, IAM carbonzero took part in El Ejido (Almería) in the conference “From Waste to Resource”, co-organized by Grupo SACH, the University of Almería, the Cajamar Chair of Bioeconomy and the Cajamar Foundation, which brought together authorities, researchers and agri-food sector stakeholders.
The event showcased the results of the European MIX-MATTERS project and its potential to advance toward more sustainable and comprehensive management of agricultural waste. Our Director General, José Marcos González Conejero, took part in the panel discussion on agricultural biomass valorization and regulation, which brought together very different profiles from the value chain: the Andalusian Bioeconomy Cluster, the Cajamar Las Palmerillas Experimental Station, COEXPHAL, the University of Almería and its spin-off Revalora Biotech, and IAM carbonzero. The starting question was specific
What is preventing the valorization of agricultural biomass from moving from the laboratory to the market in a region like Almería?
Raw material, even if the law calls it waste
José Marcos started from a point of agreement with the rest of the panel: many of the materials generated by agriculture in Almería function, in practice, as raw materials. Legally, however, they remain classified as waste.
Law 7/2022 on waste and contaminated soils for a circular economy allows certain materials to be declared by-products when they meet a series of conditions. In Spain, this route has been used very little. In other European countries, recognition of these materials is much more established. “What is far more internalized in Europe is proving very difficult in our country,” he noted.
An industrial activity that needs industrial solutions
The second message was about scale. José Marcos described intensive agriculture in Almería as a fully industrial activity, taking place in a highly occupied territory, and argued that the management of its by-products must be sized accordingly.
In his view, the main problem today is the rollout of solutions across the territory. Given the current density of farms and facilities, finding viable locations for infrastructure capable of treating the volumes generated by the province is very difficult.
An economic model that still doesn’t add up
José Marcos explained that, within what current legislation allows, composting is today the economically optimal option, which is why it is the one used. Other routes run into an economic model that doesn’t quite add up, or into regulatory obstacles.
Animal feed has limited potential in Almería due to the scarce presence of large livestock farms, which drives up logistics costs. Other alternatives, such as pyrolysis, face difficulties stemming from the classification of the material as waste. Biomethane is gaining interest, as the sector will need to evolve from models based on electricity remuneration toward others in which the management of these materials has its own economic value. His conclusion was that the potential exists, but it requires a great deal of work and outreach at every level, not only within the producing sector.
Spain does know how to do anaerobic digestion
Asked which regulatory changes would facilitate valorization, José Marcos described a widespread stalling in the development of biogas and biomethane in Spain. In his view, this is not an Andalusian problem but a national one. He stressed that the perceived lack of expertise in this technology is only apparent. Spain has well-established experience in anaerobic digestion at wastewater treatment plants, with more than 134 active facilities. These plants have been generating energy for years, and the agricultural use of their sludge is governed by its own national framework, Royal Decree 1310/1990. That experience, he argued, is not being carried over to biomethane.
Digestate as an organic amendment
José Marcos referred to a recently published assessment on the use of digestate in the field as an organic amendment with fertilizing value. According to him, the data show that Spain is well behind other European countries in organic fertilization. He referred to the report Digestate in Europe: the state of play in 2026, by the European Biogas Association. According to this study, Germany produces more than 30% of Europe’s digestate, while Spain is not among the leading producers. The report notes that one of the main barriers is that digestate is still often treated as waste. He also pointed out that legislation allows materials considered waste under the Waste Directive to be categorized as by-products, and that countries such as Italy, France, Denmark and Germany have done so. In his view, one of the priority requests to the administration is to look at how other EU countries are handling this.
Stable contracts and value for the whole chain
José Marcos pointed out that any valorization infrastructure, whether called a biohub or something else, requires investment, and that the investor, just like the farmer, needs to recover what they put in. In a system where the small producer decides the fate of their waste, contractually securing supply is critical to later guarantee the quality and continuity of the product.
“All of this works if, in the end, the entire value chain benefits, starting with the farmer,” he summarized.
Regulatory complexity and legal certainty
José Marcos illustrated the regulatory complexity with a figure: just the summary of the rules that must be studied to determine whether a material can be used as a component of an amendment or fertilizer runs to 135 pages. He agreed with the rest of the panel that legal certainty is a baseline condition for investment. He also warned about the uncertainty created by the fact that environmental authorizations already granted can later be reviewed under criteria that are difficult for the developer to anticipate, a situation that, as he explained, is occurring in various parts of Spain.
Deciding collaboratively
In his final remarks, José Marcos pointed to some autonomous communities as a reference, where projects are assessed through technical panels involving all the regional departments concerned. In that format, administration technicians can discuss among themselves the solutions and designs proposed by developers, rather than leaving the decision solely to the environmental assessment process. He presented this model as a general challenge for public administration, applicable to any activity subject to integrated environmental authorization, not only waste management.
Other perspectives on the same problem
Andalusian Bioeconomy Cluster. José Ramón Fernández, of Grupo La Caña, presented the Cluster, set up in late 2025 with support from the Department of Agriculture, which already has around 30 members. Its aim is to serve as a meeting point between businesses, research and public administrations, to facilitate consortia for accessing European funding, and to strengthen the sector’s representation. He highlighted as barriers the cost of stabilizing highly perishable by-products, the lack of capacity in the power grid to connect new projects, and the difficulty of opening markets for new bioproducts. He proposed creating joint technical panels between administration and businesses to work on specific cases.
Cajamar Las Palmerillas Experimental Station. Alicia González advocated a cascading approach: first extract the highest-value compounds, especially from non-marketable fruit, and leave composting or energy generation for last, so that what is obtained returns to the field as fertilizer, biostimulant or organic matter. In her view, the challenge is more organizational than technological. She proposed characterizing each by-product and ensuring its traceability, even linking it to the field record book, so that the administration has a clear technical basis for determining what is waste and what is raw material.
University of Almería and Revalora Biotech. Juan Castilla Archilla estimated that Almería generates between 1.2 and 1.5 million tonnes of wet matter per year, with around 70% concentrated in five months. He proposed moving away from composting as the general destination toward sorting centers that direct each fraction to its best use, and creating a pre-industrial-scale demonstration center in Almería. He also warned that administrative indecision is holding back projects: “Not making a decision is still a problem.”
COEXPHAL. Luis Miguel Fernández, its managing director, stressed that any valorization system must not come at a cost to farmers, who are tired of every sustainability improvement falling on their costs. He pointed to farmer training, phytosanitary risk during transport, and the shortage of land in the Poniente area as practical issues to resolve, and called on public administrations to simplify regulations and cut red tape.
What we take away
From different perspectives, the speakers reached very similar conclusions. Almería has biomass volume, technical capacity, technology centers and farmers willing to innovate. The technology exists. What is missing is a framework that recognizes as a resource what already functions as one, an administration that decides in a coordinated way and with stable rules, and a value chain in which the farmer comes out ahead.
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