Sociedade Ponto Verde (SPV) has teamed up again with the collaborative innovation consultancy Beta-i to challenge startups from all over the world to join the second edition of the collaborative innovation program Re-Source, which has an allocation of 250,000âĴ for investment in the development of the selected projects. With the goal of promoting circular economy and digital disruption in packaging waste collection and recycling, the program will give participants the opportunity to work together with large companies to create innovative pilot projects for the sector.
The second edition of Re-Source will be focused on finding solutions that will solve challenges related to consumer participation, focusing both on individual behaviour and commitment and on the digitalization of processes and service level that make the whole system more effective; with increasing the circularity of glass and aluminium packaging, promoting digitalization and traceability in the collection and recovery of glass and improving the separation and disposal of aluminium, allowing to close the cycle of this “infinitely recyclable” material and keep it always within the circular economy; and also innovative solutions for recycling of cardboard packaging for liquid foods and recovery of coated papers, applying the principles of circular economy.
Applications for the program are open until July 27th, available on the Resource website, for startups, scaleups, innovators and research centers with digital solutions already tested in other markets, namely related to robotics and AI for last mile delivery, with new materials within the circular economy and with the development of smart cities.
According to Diogo Teixeira, Beta-i’s CEO, “after a successfully completed first edition, SPV’s motivation to work with us again shows how our collaborative methodology fits into their strategy of bringing new knowledge, technologies and scalable innovations to the packaging waste sector. As such, this year we are again giving startups the opportunity to scale their businesses faster, and companies the chance to make the practice of recycling and waste disposal even more effective.”
According to Ana Trigo Morais, CEO of Sociedade Ponto Verde, “Re-source returns for its second edition as a result of the successful path taken at its launch. It is necessary to continue to gather agents of innovation and disruption, whose DNA is based on technological and digital transformation and above all on “thinking differently” so that it is possible to continue to evolve the recycling sector and the packaging value chain.
After the process of analyzing the maturity and potential impact of the proposed solutions, the 20 best selected startups will participate in a Collaboration Design Sprint,
facilitated by Beta-i, with Sociedade Ponto Verde and partners involved in the recycling value chain, including Musami – Municipal Environment Operations, Waste Management of Madeira, the Municipality of Maia, Delta, Embal, Amarsul, Valorsul, Leroy Merlin, Tetra Pak and Deco Proteste.
For four months, startups, entrepreneurs, and partners will work together to develop pilot projects, and at the end of February, each solution developed in the bootcamp phase will then be presented to the ecosystem and tested in a real-world context.
The first edition of Re-Source has joined 13 partners and 20 entrepreneurs from 10 countries – including Portugal – and resulted in the development of several tangible solutions for recycling and the circular economy, including smart recycling bins to make recycling a fun habit, recycling bins that allow a person to insert glass or plastic containers and aluminium cans and receive points and prizes that can then be used in services and products, labels with magnetizable ink, so that they can be more easily separated from plastic and allow better packaging recycling, among others.
