Mallorca Rural, an entity that promotes and defends the socioeconomic interests of the rural area of Mallorca, following the strategic objectives defined in its Participatory Local Development Strategy (EDLP) 2014-2020, is carrying out the Pilot Project for the study of the viability of Mallorcan sheep wool as a material applicable in the industrial sector that has been financed through EAFRD funds, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

As a result of this project, which aims to respond to the current situation of wool in Mallorca, new uses have been proposed, such as composting, which is considered as one of the valid treatments for SANDACH 3 (animal by-product). The compostabilidat tests will begin this June and will end in September approximately at the facilities for waste management of TIRME and technicians of the entity together with researchers from the UIB will conclude with a protocol that allows:

1. Check the compostabilidat of Mallorcan sheep's wool together with FORM (organic fraction of domestic origin and selective collection) and vegetable fraction.
2. Validate the process conditions such as degree of decomposition or odors.
3. Verify the technical and operational feasibility in terms of pretreatment and storage needs.
4. Check the impact of wool as a minority raw material on the quality of the compound obtained, in accordance with the applicable fertilizer regulations.

If the results are satisfactory, work will be done to offer a free transformation and return to the farm service in the next season. It would be that the peasants who want it, can take their wool directly to the composting plant, and collect, at the end of the process, the kilograms of compound obtained in proportion to the wool deposited.

This action responds to a claim from the livestock sector that has seen how wool has become a product of rejection without commercial value and a problem for farms. The future of the pilot project of Mallorca Rural passes to develop a Guide of Good Agricultural Practices, in coordination with the Veterinarians of the General Directorate of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development, where new agricultural activities of use of the resource are contemplated so that the wool can be used as liquid fertilizer or that the washing can be done to the farm itself, not yet approved, and which will be accompanied by training for farmers and ranchers.

The Mallorca Rural Association is a non-profit organization that was established in 2002 in order to boost the rural area of Mallorca through the LEADER Community Initiative of the European Union.

Contact:

Anna Aguiló Colldeforn

629141124

info@mallorcarural.cat