The Técnico/CERIS researcher Maria Paula Mendes, was one of the winners of the Alfredo Silva Scientific Awards. The award ceremony took place this Wednesday, June 30. The “ReDuCe” project was the winner in the “Entrepreneurship” category, in partnership with the Business Council for Sustainable Development (BCSD) Portugal.
The “ReDuCe” project is coordinated by the CERIS researcher and aims to promote the use of recycled waste face masks as a composite material in construction works. The multidisciplinary team intends to study solutions used in construction (mortars, non-structural concrete and filling layers), focusing on circularity and contributing to the mitigation of the negative impact of plastics on the environment and society.
In the long term, the team expects to develop composites made of various low-cost, effective and durable binders, with a high rate of incorporation of plastic residues from face masks. If possible, the solutions developed will be part of the activity of BSCD companies, or companies from the former CUF group that promote innovation and sustainability, as a way to create value for their business.
The project team is composed of professor Carlos Oliveira Cruz (IST Department of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Georesources – DECivil and CERIS researcher), professor Manuel Francisco Pereira (DECivil and CERENA researcher), professor Inês Flores Colen (DECivil and CERIS researcher), and Giovanni Borsoi (CERIS researcher).
The award amounts to €25,000 and will be delivered in phases, according to project progress reports.
The Alfredo da Silva Research Awards are an initiative of the Amélia de Mello’s Foundation as part of the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the birth of the Portuguese industrialist and aim to recognise and support advanced scientific research projects in the fields of entrepreneurship, technological innovation, mobility and industry, and the sustainability of health systems.
The target audience of this initiative are researchers, whether or not integrated in the Universities and Polytechnic Institutes of Portugal. Partners of this initiative: BCSD, COTEC Portugal and Nova University Lisbon.
