Biodegradable Circular Economy Innovation Wins Green Alley Award 2017 @GreenAlleyAward Which great Circular Economy innovations had an impact at the Green Alley Awards 2017? The CSCP is the coordinator of r2Pi, a major EU project on business models for the circular economy. The project sponsored this year’s Green Alley Award, which recognises highly promising circular economy innovations. The 2017 edition received some 250 applications from across Europe and 6 finalists were selected: Mimenergy from Ireland, Newcy from France, Sulapac from Finland, Solmove and Sulfotools from Germany and Sustonable from the Netherlands. “I was very intrigued by these innovations. In our r2Pi project, building materials is an area of focus, so Sustonable’s composite stone seemed an attractive solution for smaller countries running out of quarries”, said Alexis Figeac, who was part of the jury and is the head of CSCP’s Sustainable Business & Entrepreneurship. Equally impressive was Solmove’s futuristic street surfacing, generating electricity and induction charging for e-mobility. Manufacturing peptides without the use of harmful solvents could be a real benefit for the pharma industry, “a sustainability breakthrough”, commented the jury, but Sulfotools’ challenge is to move beyond the lab. Recuperating energy, steel and chemicals from could be an ideal way of mining the billions of tyres our society disposes of annually. Mimergy believes it has the solution, just as Newcy does with respect to plastic cup waste in France. While these innovations were impressive, no one could deny Sulapac’s coherence, sustainability and achievement with their 100% bio-degradable packaging for the cosmetic industry. Extracted from wood, yet with high-performance properties to avoid diffusion and leakage of liquids, it has the added advantage that it may be manufactured by conventional extrusion and injection moulding equipment. “There is no reason for the cosmetic industry and its suppliers of premium packaging not to switch to Sulapac’s highly-sustainable innovation” Figeac concluded. Please contact Alexis Figeac for futher information.