PORTWASTE II: Blue Innovation in the Canaries to Improve Waste Management in Ports

The Canaries are promoting blue innovation growth through Research & Investigation & Design applied to the traceability of the carbon footprint of waste in ports, in line with their commitment to mitigating the effects of climate change and to make our oceans sustainable.

A commitment Aquatera Atlántico shares, the success case selected through the Maritime Cluster of the Canaries by Red CIDE. Red CIDE is a free resource which offers support for organisations to take on their challenges in innovation, energy efficiency and optimisation of resource management, offered by the Regional Ministry of Universities, Innovation and Culture of the Canary Islands Government, through the Canary Islands Department of Investigation, Innovation and Information – co-financed by the Regional Development European Fund.

 Aquatera Atlántico is the European base of Aquatera Group, offering consultancy services specialising in blue economy sectors, with a recognised expertise in marine renewable energy through experience gained during more than 20 years working in sustainability projects and initiatives both locally and globally.

The main outcome of the project will be the creation of a "digital passport" for port waste, implementing the use of blockchain technologies, to improve its traceability. Aquatera Atlantico will additionally be adding an extra layer of information to that passport providing information from a C02 calculator. 

Red CIDE’s support has helped the company access innovative technologies to deliver a completed project, closer to the market’s needs.

Xabier Remirez Perea, Senior Consultant at Aquatera Atlántico, tells us about the company’s progress and about his experience with Red CIDE in entrepreneurship and innovation, inviting institutions and organisations to employ this support in order to materialise ideas and provide tangible results.

Video transcript in English:

Aquatera Atlántico offers a local perspective towards climate change, marine renewable energy and the Blue Economy, based on more than 20 years of experience obtained by the Aquatera Group through the delivery of sustainable projects on a global scale.

 For the PORTWASTE II project, Aquatera Atlántico together with the Maritime Cluster of the Canary Islands, and the rest of the Spanish Consortium formed by the Digital Cluster of Catalunya, Blue Room Innovation, Navozyme and BarnaSteel, have come together to create a digital identity system which accompanies ports’ waste, from inception, through its transformation chain to management. Through Blockchain, a digital passport will be added which will guarantee the traceability of the waste residue throughout the entire process. Aquatera Atlantico, particularly, will add a layer of information with a carbon footprint calculator for the waste residue.

 Red CIDE and the Maritime Cluster of the Canary Islands, who have accompanied Aquatera Atlantico in the process, have enabled us to access an innovative technology to create a finalised and polished product closer to the needs of the market, thanks to the support from the Spanish Ministry of Industry and Tourism through the latest call for grants to Innovative Business Groups (AEI).

We would recommend engaging with Red CIDE without a doubt, their technical experts allow companies and organisations to progress from an idea’s inception through to funding and to partnership creation in order to streamline the innovation process and support organisations to reach their maximum potential.