Lettinga Award Honors UNAM’s Innovation in Environmental Biotechnology

A team of researchers from UNAM has received the prestigious Lettinga Award, one of the most renowned honors in environmental biotechnology. The team—Julián Carrillo Reyes, Alejandro Vargas Casillas, and Iván Moreno Andrade—from the Institute of Engineering, Juriquilla Campus, was recognized at the 18th IWA World Conference on Anaerobic Digestion in Istanbul, Turkey.

Their autonomous waste treatment system, designed for rural communities, was commended for its innovative approach to anaerobic digestion.

Established in 2001 by the Lettinga Foundation, the award is supported by industry leaders such as Biothane, Veolia, and Paques. It is presented at the World Congress on Anaerobic Digestion, an event endorsed by the International Water Association, to promote technological advancements in waste management.

Named after Gatze Lettinga—a pioneer who revolutionized anaerobic digestion technologies in the 1960s and 1970s—the award recognizes breakthroughs in organic waste management. Lettinga’s innovations transformed waste processing by enabling the production of biogas, a renewable energy source, and biofertilizers, contributing to global sustainability efforts.

The UNAM team’s system operates autonomously, requiring no expert supervision, and is powered by solar panels to convert waste into biogas and biofertilizers, setting a new benchmark for sustainable resource management.

“This technology has significant potential to improve living conditions in rural areas by enabling efficient and sustainable waste-to-resource conversion,” explained Iván Moreno, an expert in organic waste treatment.