BLOCOYSTER is the winning project of the sixth edition of the Mares Circulares Competition, in the Research Centres category, with a prize of 7,000 EUR. The “BLOCOYSTER — sustainable blocks with the incorporation of aquaculture waste” project contributes to the sustainable blue economy by reducing the pollution caused by aquaculture waste. Through the use of oyster shells in the production of building blocks, it focuses on a solution using local materials, increasing the value chain and reducing the carbon footprint. This project promotes circularity between economic sectors, using bivalve waste from the maritime sector to create new products in the construction sector. It began in March 2024 and will last for one year.
BLOCOYSTER joins researchers from CERIS, CERENA and CITUA research units at IST and is coordinated by Professor Inês Flores-Colen (CERIS). The remaining team members are Professors Manuel Francisco Costa Pereira (CERENA) and Ana Paula Veira Soares Pereira Dias (CERENA); Post-Doctoral researchers Rui Vasco Silva (CERIS) and Maria Paula Mendes (CERIS), PhD students Poliana Bellei (CERIS), Fernanda Caroline (CERIS/CITUA), and Xiwen Fu (CERIS/CITUA); and MSc students Nicollas Moreira (DECivil) and Giovanna Schafer (DECivil).
Mares Circulares, an initiative promoted by Coca-Cola in partnership with the Liga para a Proteção da Natureza (LPN), aims to support the development of innovative solutions and technologies that promote the circular economy in the fight against waste in the seas, oceans and river environments.
VI Edition of the Award
Despite the Iberian implementation of the Mares Circulares Programme, the sixth edition of the award was the first one to have different juries and winners in Spain and Portugal.
The Portuguese jury was composed of Rúben Eiras (General Secretary of Fórum Oceano), Raquel Costa (Ocean Literacy expert and co-coordinator of the Rede Escola Azul Atlântica, from IOC-UNESCO) and Mário Verde Pereira (Professor at the Department of Biology at the University of Aveiro).
Manuel Bastos (Sustainability & Projects Manager from Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Portugal) explains that “we must focus efforts on eliminating marine waste and developing a circular economy by raising awareness about the need to collect and recycle waste, so that it does not end up in our seas and promoting reusable or reincorporation solutions. These Awards promoted by Mares Circulares aim to recognize and support initiatives that seek to advance the circularity of this waste to convert it into new materials that help us develop a more sustainable economic model that respects our environment”.
Ana Sofia Ribeiro (Coordinator of the Department of Environmental Awareness, Education and Training at LPN) confirms: “It is very important to support innovative initiatives and projects that promote greater environmental sustainability and that meet an increasingly circular economy. With the attribution of the Mares Circulares Awards, we intend to encourage the interest in society, mainly at a business and educational level, in researching and proposing solutions to the waste problem”.
About Mares Circulares
Mares Circulares is an initiative promoted by Coca-Cola in Spain and Portugal, in partnership with the associations Chelonia and Vertidos Cero, the Ecomar Foundation and the Liga para a Proteção da Natureza (LPN).
Mares Circulares started in 2018 and, globally in both countries, developed 619 interventions on beaches and aquatic environments. It works annually to contribute to the conservation of 11 marine reserves and 10 areas of the Natura 2000 Network and collaborates with 18 Iberian ports. To this end, it had the support of around 40,000 volunteers and the collaboration of more than 1,200 partners such as city councils and public and private entities that supported the initiatives developed in the different municipalities.
Furthermore, since its creation, Mares Circulares has carried out training and citizen awareness programs with which it reached more than 83,000 people and supported the promotion of 16 scientific studies and 8 ‘start-ups’ that proposed circular economy solutions for combat the major problem of waste reaching the seas and other aquatic spaces.
Mares Circulares is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, especially SDG 12, Responsible Production and Consumption; SDG 13, Climate Action; SDG 14, Life Underwater; and SDG 17, Generation of Alliances for Sustainable Development.