The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, through the Biodiversity Foundation, today held the meeting “The prevention and recycling of marine litter: an opportunity for green entrepreneurship”, with the intention of promoting the opportunities for green entrepreneurship in this area with the help of different speakers.
These meetings, of which 12 editions have already been held, aim to promote the creation and consolidation of companies or new lines of business in the field of eco-design, recycling and eco-innovation.
On this occasion, the work of different entrepreneurs and companies in the marine litter sector was highlighted, a problem that generates about 10 million tons of waste annually in the world and affects a large number of cetaceans and seabirds.
The conference, held at the headquarters of the Biodiversity Foundation in the city of Seville, was chaired by its director, Sonia Castañeda, and was attended by the Head of Area in the Division for the Protection of the Sea of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, Marta Martínez-Gil, who announced the Ministry’s actions to reduce and better understand marine litter within the framework of the Law on the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Development of Marine Strategies.
This meeting, which has the collaboration of Ecoembes, has dealt with the impacts generated by litter in the marine environment and the alternative measures and good practices to be implemented to face the problem with specific projects of entities that are working on specific actions for the reduction and recovery of litter that ends up in the sea. Initiatives and advice on the prevention and recycling of marine litter have also been shared.
ONLINE WORKING GROUP “Marine litter”
During the day, different entrepreneurs took part, such as the founder of Artlantique, Ramón Llonch, who explained how to reuse the wood of old African fishing boats to build furniture and thus prevent them from being abandoned on the beach. For his part, Jesús Gago, a researcher at the Spanish Institute of Oceanography, showed the work carried out by this institution to determine the amount of waste present in the sea and the impact it generates on marine life.
The head of the Marine Environment of Zero Discharges, Estibaliz López-Samaniego, the director of European territorial development and participation in Surfrider, Vincent Lagalaye, and the managing director of Urgarbi, Fernando Astorqui, also took part.
After the interventions, the participants had the opportunity to exchange experiences, detect new business opportunities and establish professional contacts. This experience can be maintained through the online working group “Marine Litter”, created by the Biodiversity Foundation itself.
ECORECINNOVA ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM
This meeting is part of the “EcoRecinnova Entrepreneurship Programme”, an initiative that has the collaboration of Ecoembes and aims to promote the creation and consolidation of companies or lines of business in the field of eco-design, recycling and eco-innovation.
These meetings are aimed at entrepreneurs and investors who are part of the Emprendeverde Network, which already has more than 7,200 members. After 12 editions, they have already established themselves in the green entrepreneurship ecosystem with more than 450 participants and 45 speakers.
The Emprendeverde Network, an initiative co-financed by the European Social Fund, is the first platform specialising in green business aimed at entrepreneurs and investors in order to promote the creation and consolidation of companies or new lines of business in activities linked to the environment and channel investment towards sustainable economic activities.
