Tag: Agriculture, fresh water, contamination, pollution, food technology
Researcher: Alberto Guadagnini
Department: DICA – Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Pesticides adopted in agriculture can easily raise environmental concerns, as they can often be a cause of contamination of nearby surface waters. This can cause irreversible damage to the ecosystem and to water quality. The accumulation of pesticides in water is one of the main causes of eutrophication, a phenomenon that causes changes in biodiversity and ecosystem functions of clean water. Sediments analysis of fresh waters have proven that change in nutrients and mineral salts can cause permanent damages to freshwater reserves, an increasingly scarce and vital resource.
RECYCLE, a EU funded project has the objective of developing methodologies and technologies to trap pesticides used in agricultural work and recycle them, protecting the environment as well as being in line with the principles of a circular economy. Researchers aim to develop new technologies in order to trap pesticides residue from drained land and sediments and make them available for agricultural purposes avoiding contamination.
RECYCLE program has been chosen in 2019 under the H2020 scheme, MSCA-RISE — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research and Innovation Staff Exchange — and will have an expected duration of four years. The project involves eight other participant universities — other than Politecnico di Milano — and four partner institutions, with an overall budget of € 1,347,800.
Within the scheme of the MSCA-RISE, the project will stimulate knowledge exchange, and foster collaboration between the institutions involved in the program, through seminars and workshops, as well as the joint effort of members from the private sector and other stakeholders.
