The interface CVR – Centro para a Valorização de Resíduos da Universidade do Minho celebrated its 20 years with the event “Discovering Science”, which took place last 20th July, in its building, in the Azurém campus, in Guimarães.
The opening session was attended by the Councillor for the Environment of Guimarães City Council, Sofia Ferreira, the Vice-Rector of UMinho for Research and Innovation, Eugénio Campos Ferreira, the Executive Director of the VSC, Jorge Araújo, and the President of the Board of Directors of the VSC and Professor at the School of Engineering of UMinho, Cândida Vilarinho. This was followed by the launch of the Wast’Awareness project, by Margarida Soares and Nádia Valério, both from the CVR. Co-funded with 330,000 euros by Portugal 2020/FEDER, the project aims to transfer R&D and “market-ready” technologies to agri-food and metallurgical companies in the North, Centre and Alentejo.
The event also included interventions on biorefineries, by Margarida Gonçalves, Professor at Universidade Nova de Lisboa, and on the fibres of the future, by Raul Fangueiro, President of the Board of the Fibrenamics Association of UMinho. At the end, there will be a snack. The initiative also aims at fostering partnerships between several society agents.
More than 70 national and international projects
The CVR is an unavoidable entity in south-western Europe in waste valorisation. Founded by initiative of the Minho Industrial Association, the Portuguese Foundry Association, TecMinho and UMinho, this institution of public utility and technological interface has 86 associates from different branches of activity, 18 permanent collaborators, in addition to partnerships with two dozen scientists from universities and technological centres from various countries. This Centre organises the WASTES international conference every two years and is part of networks such as the European Biofuels Platform and Smart Waste Portugal. It provides technical and scientific services and the application of real solutions to industry and municipalities, focusing on environmental and energy innovation and contributing to public policies for smart specialisation.
The CVR has participated in about 70 national and international projects, most of them with community support and with strong market links. These include, for example, applying eggshells to treat effluents, using surplus olives to make bread, converting agricultural waste into biofuel, valorising vegetable remains from industries, recovering valuable metals from sludge, creating the European eco-label for olive oil, making energy use of waste containing PVC, launching innovative and sustainable products from any waste and qualifying business strategies of SMEs in the sector. The official website is https://www.cvresiduos.pt/
The School of Engineering congratulates the VSC for these 20 years and wishes the whole team many successes!
