Neutroplast wins Inova+ Award

Neutroplast was distinguished with the Inova+ Business Excellence Award in the Sustainability of Natural Resources and Ecosystems category. This award is an initiative of the National Agency for Innovation, the Portuguese Industrial Association and also the Council of Rectors of Portuguese Universities and the Coordinator of Polytechnic Institutes.

The award was obtained due to the SeaRubbish2Cap project, which is establishing a model for the identification, recovery and valorisation of waste on the ocean bed. This process involves the collection of rubbish, but also the treatment of waste so that it can be incorporated into production lines, as well as the production of articles that use these materials.

The project provides for the collection of five tons of plastic waste in the Peniche area, which will be reused, allowing for the production of over 2.5 tons of pellets for use in plastic packaging. It is an ambitious goal, which required the cooperation of Neutroplast with various companies, so that all the steps of the process could be executed, from the collection of the waste on the sea bed and its processing, but also the connection with the fishermen who make this waste, until Neutroplast could create value added products from this waste.

However, the execution of the project is only the starting point for this initiative, as there are very relevant gains to be made in studying the activities that make it up. For this very reason, metrics are being defined for the creation of a set of good practices that will allow the project to be replicated globally. In fact, the SeaRubbish2Cap project consists not only in transforming waste into added value products, but mainly in promoting, in a significant way, a new way of seeing the environment and industry.

For all these reasons, the Inova+ Award not only recognises the strides that Neutroplast is making towards sustainability, but also allows projects that improve the lives of the communities around us to gain visibility and traction. As such, it was a source of pride for Neutroplast to receive this award, but more importantly a sign that we are heading in the right direction.