Three projects reach the final stage of the Generating Ideas' Zero Residue edition
On 12 May at 11 a.m., the UAB will hold the Demoday of the finalists participtation in the 13th Generating Ideas Programme, which aims to come up with innovative ways to solve problems with residues and advance towards a green economy. The final stage of the competition will be aired on the UAB Parc de Recerca's YouTube channel. All those interested in attending must sign up.
The programme, which took place during the months of March and April, will now end with the presentation of three finalist projects, which will be presented in front of a jury whose members are experts in evaluating business ideas. The competition will take place at the UAB Parc de Recerca's mult-purpose room (Sala Polivalent) and will also be made available online on the Parc de Recerca's YouTube channel. Please sign up to attend.
The jury of this year's Demoday will select the best project presented by the teams, who will then be able to create a prototype and form part of an acceleration course at the Esade Business School.
The finalist projects are:
- SORTEX: the objective of this project is to identify and separate textile fibres and facilitate recycling and contribute to a circular economy. This project will be presented by Rafa Valdés, PhD in Environmental Science and Technology and lecturer at the UAB; Gemma Rius, researcher at the Institute of Microelectronics of Barcelona (IMB-CNM-CSIC) and Ivan Hortigüela, currently enrolled in a PhD programme in Law at the Rovira i Virgili University.
- REVERTI: this project aims to reduce residues creatd by packaging for liquid products. The solution is based on the traceability of returnable packaging units, using the RFID label and a software that can improve the optimisation of the distribution and return process. The team defending this idea is formed by August Arnal, researcher at the IMB-CNM-CSIC and Minerva Porté, student of the Agrarian School of Tàrrega.
- +ValuePot: this proposal seeks to value potato peel, transforming it from a residue to a subproduct and using it in different industries as raw material. This proposal will be presented by Isabel Corrales, from the Department of Animal Biology, Plant Biology and Ecology at the UAB; Lucia Yohai, from the Separation Techniques group of the UAB Department of Chemistry, and Maria Ribaya, PhD student at the Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG).
Once the project are presented, Raquel Barrena from the UAB research group in Solid Organic Waste Composting will offer a conference on zero residue entitled Cap al residu zero en la gestió de la matèria orgànica: biodegradabilitat, bioconversió i noves cadenes de valor.
This Generating Ideas edition was funded by the Sant Cugat City Council and included the support of Catalunya Emprèn, Banco Santander and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). It is also part of the Regional Specialisation and Competitiveness Project “HubB30, més enllà de la circularitat”, which aims to transform the region surrounding the B30 highway into a leader of sustainable development actions and policies.