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 The island of Djerba is characterized by an intensive touristic orientation. This is associated not only to an extensive use of resources such as water and energy, but also to a quantity of discharge and wastewater that rises seasonally. The quantity of household waste that reaches the Guellala landfill, which was the main cause of the crisis in September 2012, was 45.700 t/year. 55% of the municipal waste are organic, with a 40 to 60% humidity, whereas, for the hotel discharges (135 hotels), 68% are organic waste, with a humidity inferior to 70%. The closure of the Guellala landfill disrupted the waste management system in the three municipalities of the island of Djerba, including Houmet Souk, Midoun, and Ajim. Thanks to the synergy effects, it is possible to optimize the cycles of regional material, energy, and water, and to increase the local added value in this region of Tunisia. These big quantities of wastewater and green and domestic waste are currently treated separately, but are insufficiently used. It is possible to exploit this existing matter by fermenting this biomass in a biogas station, and to compost these wastes after having sorted them in order to use them for garden amendment in the hotels.

This project is used to detect and analyze the potential development of the regional circular economy, and to prepare for investments and launch new, big projects. This application is based on an agreement between CITET, INSAT, and the University of Rostock.

 • Common scientific work: development of work hypotheses, test planning and implementation (laboratory), evaluation and discussion of the results, and preparation of reports and publication of articles;

• Conceptual work: evaluation of the test results and of the possible technical solutions;

• The transfer of scientific knowledge in the fields of renewable energy, water, and organic waste treatment;

• Organization of visits, workshops, phone conferences, exchange of results and reports;

• Public relations: publications, presentation of results, and national and international consultations, workshops with project partners and potential entrepreneurs;

• Stepping up the cooperation with the national institutions and the university of Rostock, …etc.;

• The establishment of a German-Tunisian network, available for other scientific themes;

• Preparation of requests for future cooperation.

Partners: Tunisia, Germany
Financing: Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research
Duration of the project: June 2016 to June 2018.