Fibrenamics and LREC-Azores: Circular economy project for the civil construction sector in the Azores
Ambiente_Sregional is a circular economy project for the civil construction sector in the Azores, developed jointly by Fibrenamics, the international platform of the University of Minho, and the Regional Laboratory of Civil Engineering (LREC-Azores). The project aims to create a platform bringing together the various actors involved in the recovery of waste to form value chains, taking advantage of the characteristic ecosystem of the islands.
Thanks to its size, geographical dispersion, licensed waste operators and a good level of monitoring and knowledge of waste production, the Autonomous Region of the Azores was chosen as a good living laboratory for implementing and testing the operations proposed in the project, with the model set to be upscaled later on to national and international level. Due to their dependence on imports of raw materials and commercial products, the Azores will have economic and strategic advantages in adopting a circular economy paradigm.
- The two-year project has won funding of around EUR 500 000 from the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism.
- With the main objective of implementing a new model for the circular economy, the first phase of this project will study and map existing waste, identifying and attracting partners associated with the waste recovery process.
- During the second phase, demonstration models will be developed to validate the technology for converting waste into products, a process that will be led by a creative team. At the same time, the circularity model will be optimised, creating coordinated value chains through a digital platform.