Irish Start-up BladeBridge Shortlisted for Green Alley Award

The European Recycling Platform (ERP), Ireland’s only pan-European compliance scheme for WEEE and Waste Batteries, is calling on the nation to vote for Cork-based start-up BladeBridge as they bid to compete against the cream of Europe’s circular economy start-ups in the final of this year’s Green Alley Awards.  The Green Alley Awards, supported by ERP Ireland, is celebrating 10 years of championing circular economy start-ups in 2024.

Bladebridge have made the shortlist of 20 start-ups which will be whittled down to six finalists through a public vote.  The six finalists will pitch their start-up concepts at a gala event in Berlin on 25^th April with the overall winner collecting €25,000.   BladeBridge will be competing against start-ups from Italy, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Poland, Portugal, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK.

BladeBridge is the first Irish company shortlisted for the Green Alley Awards since EDAC, an environmental compliance software provider was shortlisted in 2022.

Votes can be cast at https://green-alley-award.com/public-vote/ with the deadline of the 19^th of February.

BladeBridge repurposes decommissioned wind turbine blades into sustainable infrastructure such as bridges and furniture, providing a sustainable solution to wind turbine waste which would otherwise be incinerated or sent to landfill. BladeBridge collaborates with wind farm owners and handlers of wind turbine waste to find repurposing options for their unwanted blade material.

BladeBridge recently created a pedestrian bridge on the Midleton to Youghal Greenway using two turbine blades sourced from Northern Ireland to replace steel girders for the bridge which spans 5.5 metres across a flood channel on the Dungourney river.

To date the Green Alley Award has created a community of circular economy start-ups including 1,600 applicants from over 30 countries with 54 start-ups recognised as finalists resulting in over €1.2 million investment in start-ups. The awards are dedicated to three specific high-potential fields: Recycling, Waste Prevention and Digital Solutions.

These startups stand out for their exceptional contributions to the circular economy and their innovative solutions:

AraBat (Italy)

Extending the lifecycle of batteries: Our technology allows to recover spent batteries with bio-based process that uses fruit and vegetables.

An advanced and sustainable technology to help battery users and manufacturers the recycling of spent batteries and recovery of raw materials with biomass-based processes that use fruit and vegetable by-products and waste.

BladeBridge (Ireland)

Repurposing wind turbine blades: We help to reduce blade end-of-life waste by transforming them into infrastructure.

BladeBridge repurposes decommissioned wind turbine blades into low carbon, low maintenance infrastructure such as bridges, outdoor furniture and e-mobility hubs.

https://bladebridge.ie/

Bloom ESG (Netherlands)

Tracking carbon emissions: Our technology helps businesses estimate the avoided emissions associated with recycling.

Avoided Emissions Calculator to help e-waste recyclers quantify the emissions avoided by recycling with order-level data of 29+ types of e-waste, integrated with their API, in a third party validated methodology.

Carbon Cell (UK)

Compostable packaging: We have developed a patentable technology to create a rigid expanded foam from biochar.

A carbon-negative, biodegradable rigid foam, developed from waste with competitive thermal and acoustic insulation, strength, and fire-resistance to help companies using polystyrene packaging (e.g., consumer electronics) to protect their product from impact or temperature changes during transit.

https://www.carboncell.co/

Circular Silicon (Germany)

Second life for silicon: Second life for silicon: We recover silicon as a raw material from solar panel waste to close the loop in the silicon industry.

A chemical recycling process for silicones to offer silicones with 70% less carbon footprint. It addresses industries that generate silicone waste (automotive, electronic sector…) and companies that buy PDMS fluids. In this way 600,000 tons of this plastic are prevented to end up in landfills every year.

https://www.circularsilicon.com/

Circular Unity (Portugal)

Sustainability solution for events: Our technological solution helps various industries with smart technology to achieve net-zero.

Automated Sustainability Management Solution to help events, entertainment, sports and hospitality sectors carbon accounting, waste-related emissions, Circular Economy and ESG score with IoT sensors, User-friendly web app, AI, Computer Vision and APIs.

CircularPort (Spain)

Digital waste passport: Our digital waste and product passport platform, integrates blockchain for end-to-end traceability and transparency.

A digital waste and product passport platform, integrating blockchain for end-to-end traceability and transparency aiming to enhance circular economy to help to connect involved stakeholders in managing and recycling port waste streams: ports authorities, recycling companies and industrial manufacturers.

https://circularport.eu/

Coffeeco (Greece)

Coffee waste solution: We are developing skincare and plastic compounds from coffee waste with an innovative upcycling process.

Premium skincare and high-quality PP plastic compounds to help environmentally conscious consumers and businesses in the hospitality sector the problem of coffee waste with our innovative upcycling process as the key differentiator.

Coffeefrom (Italy)

Fighting coffee waste: Our patented process helps upcycle used coffee and employ less virgin fossil plastic to reduce CO2 production.

The startup is developing bio-polymer blends with used coffee to help upcycle used coffee and employ less virgin fossil plastic to reduce CO2 production both from the coffee industry and the plastic industry with our Patent (patented process to extract cellulose and nano-cellulose from coffee).

Ecopolplast (Poland)

Material revolution: 100% Recycled Content TPEs: circular thermoplastic elastomers made from recycled plastic and tyre rubber, reducing environmental and CO2 impact.

Innovative technology and manufactures Ecoplastomer®, a brand-new product category – circular TPEs made with 100% recycled content: to help reinvent the use of recycled materials in manufacturing and reduce CO2 emissions, limiting environmental and CO2 impact with mechanically blended, without chemical additives or stabilizers.

Fragment (Serbia)

Upcycling glass waste: We are developing building materials using up to 75% waste glass as an alternative to marble, granite, and polymer composites.

Production of innovative building materials made using up to 75% waste glass to help architects, interior designers, and furniture makers to sustainable alternatives to marble, granite, and polymer composites for their customer problem of a waste glass ending in landfills with sustainable panels.

https://www.fragment.rs/

Grounded (Denmark)

Biodegradable coffee cup: 100% biodegradable coffee cup made from upcycled waste materials as an alternative to single use paper cups.

A 100% biodegradable and CO2 reducing coffee cup made from upcycled waste materials to make sustainability a natural and affordable choice by creating a more environmentally friendly and upcycled alternative to single use paper cups.

https://groundedcups.com/

MICOVATION (Sweden)

Sustainable leather: We are developing a fungi-based leather made from mycelium with advanced biotechnology.

Mycelium leather to help fashion companies and end-consumers their sustainability goals with advanced biotechnology and standard industry equipment.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/micovation/

Mirjana Josifoska (North Macedonia)

Reducing textile waste: We offer a solution to the textile waste by producing sustainable designed headwear.

Headwear, sustainably designed and ethically produced to help environmentally and fashion-conscious women.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mirjanajosifoska/

NOOSA (Belgium)

Revalorizing textile waste: We create recyclable textile fiber to revalorize textile waste at both pre- and post-consumer levels.

Patented chemical recycling process to create a bio-based circular and 100% recycled fiber. Performant and comfortable fiber to help the textile industry to reduce waste at pre- and post- consumer level.

https://www.noosafiber.com/

Novapedra (Spain)

Ceramics from organic waste: We produce ceramics made from organic waste without the use of natural gas for the manufacturing process.

The startup is developing a sustainable material made from organic waste as an alternative to ceramics, without the use of natural gas for its manufacture.

https://novapedra.com/

PulpaTronics (UK)

Green RFID tags: We are developing recyclable paper-based RFID tags, that are metal-less and chip less.

Sustainable RFID tags, that simplify material sourcing and transport and streamline manufacturing, cutting CO2 emissions by 70% and halving cost to help retailers looking for affordable inventory management solutions while achieving sustainability goals and customers focusing on more conscious shopping the waste of natural resources.

https://www.pulpatronics.com/

Releaf Paper (France)

Packaging made from leaves: We recycle leaves gathered by cities' green waste programs to create eco-friendly paper and packaging.

Producer of paper made of fallen leaves (urban green waste) to help paper industry and molded packaging producers with the problem of availability of alternative fibers made from renewable raw-materials with own patented technology of extracting fibers.

https://www.releaf-paper.com/

reLi Energy (Germany)

Battery Software Management: Our software allows for the extension of battery lifetimes, thereby increasing profitability.

An innovative optimization software to help energy project developers and operators the problem of loss of profits due to battery inefficiency in operations with innovative energy management and optimization toolshttps://relienergy.de/

Rheiazymes (Switzerland)

Revolutionizing fashion: we are developing biological, molecular scissors to keep the sportswear, swimwear and outdoor textiles in a YARN-TO-YARN® Loop.

Molecular Bio-Recycling to help the fashion industry to solve the plastics recycling problem for sportswear, swimwear and outdoor textiles with biological scissors separating materials at the molecular level back into their main raw components. https://new.rheiazymes.com/