With the contribution of olive mills associations and specialised research institutes in different European olive oil producing countries the objective of INASOOP is to develop Environmental Quality Standards (EQS) whose compliance guarantees meeting the legislation but which also serve as a image/marketing tool. Furthermore, the project will define the structures for the management, review & update, and dissemination among the affiliates to the IAG's and the society in general. The project objectives will be reached via four main actions: Elaboration of an information package compiling and analysing all the available information on production processes and treatment methods for olive oil/table olives residues, their costs, the infrastructure available in the concerned regions, the different environmental legislations, etc. This work will also allow the exchange of experiences regarding the situation in the different olive producing countries within the EU. Development of harmonised Environmental Quality Standards (EQS) and an Expert System able to provide particularised guidelines helping the olive mills and table olives manufacturers to comply with the proposed standards. The standards and the guidelines will aim to The Expert System will be used by the IAGs as a service for their members. Both the Standards and the Expert System will be translated at least into Italian, Spanish, Greek and portuguesee in order to ease their assimilation. Training of both the SMEs and the IAGs in the environmental problems associated to olive oil and table olives production, the possible solutions and the EQS. This will be achieved via training courses, seminars and a permanent service with the aim of disseminating the Environmental Quality Standards developed during the project, and providing information to the olive mills on how to comply with them in each particular case. These training courses and other dissemination materials will be based on material developed during the project and tested with the SME olive mills participating in the consortium. Establishment of permanent contacts between the members of the consortium with the aims of: Maintaining an harmonised management and dissemination strategy of the EQS, Exchanging both experiences with the new instrument and information on technological and legislative developments leading to periodical review & update of the materials developed during the project. As a result, SME olive mills and table olives producers will be able to meet environmental regulations, to improve their commercial image via environmental labelling and in some cases even to optimise the economic performance of their exploitation if valorisation alternatives can be identified for the residues (for instance, energy valorisation, re-use of treated water in the production process, extraction of valuable substances, etc), or if the consumption patters (for water and/or energy) can be reduced.
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