Sociedade Ponto Verde (SPV) reinforces its commitment to collaborative innovation with the launch of a new digital platform dedicated to its program supporting the funding of studies and projects in Research & Development (R&D), according to a statement.
According to the same source, the initiative aims to drive solutions oriented toward sustainable growth, the circular economy, and the production of knowledge in the field of packaging and packaging waste. Through this program, SPV has invested more than €6 million in 69 R&D and innovation projects.
Individuals, public or private companies (including startups), universities, institutions of the National System of Science and Technology (SCTN), associations and NGOs may apply. Entities may be headquartered outside Portugal, provided that the R&D studies and projects have applicability in national territory.
R&D activities must cover areas such as ecodesign or life cycle assessment of packaging, the development and testing of new packaging and alternative materials, new business models and new packaging recycling solutions, which ensure a more circular production and the incorporation of recycled materials.
In addition to co-financing, project proposers benefit from specialized technical support from SPV, as well as the possibility of integration into SPV’s innovation ecosystem, with partnerships and opportunities to scale solutions reinforced.
The SPV’s new platform introduces a simpler, more intuitive and automated approach to the application process, which runs continuously. Among the main features are centralized access to applications and projects, shared access by multiple users to the same project, and closer communication with the SPV team through the platform itself, which is available in Portuguese and, soon, English.
With this program, SPV aims to boost technical-scientific knowledge, stimulate cooperation among organizations in the packaging and packaging waste ecosystem, foster collaborative innovation and entrepreneurship, encourage the development of new business models, value-added products and services, and promote the dissemination of results achieved.
Innovation being one of SPV’s main strategic axes, its contribution in 30 years of activity (since 1996) has translated into an accumulated investment of €19.4 million to support more than 120 studies and R&D projects, involving more than 150 entities.
For SPV it is essential that all investment made translates into concrete and measurable results, contributing to improving the performance of the system, which becomes even more relevant in the current context of increasingly demanding environmental targets, namely with regard to packaging recycling: by 2026, the country must ensure the selective collection of 65% of all packaging placed on the market.
For Ana Trigo Morais, CEO of Sociedade Ponto Verde: “Acting from the moment packaging is conceived, in order to reduce waste generation, to its end-of-life valorization, after the ecopoints collection, requires continuous innovation and collaboration among different entities in this ecosystem. This is, in our view, the path that must continue to be followed to find the best solutions that help the country meet its packaging recycling targets.”
“It is because we believe in this collective effort that SPV maintains its investment in this program. We are confident that the new platform represents a significant advance in simplifying and optimizing processes, making them more accessible and enabling us to attract and support a greater number of projects that concretely contribute to the achievement of the defined objectives,” she concludes.
