A high-efficiency recycling system allows for circularity in the wine-growing activity, creating short transport chains and providing added value to the winery's production process.

The Alentejo Wines Sustainability Program (PSVA), a pioneering initiative in the country and belonging to the Alentejo Regional Winegrowing Commission (CVRA), has just launched a pilot project for a circular economy, fully aimed at the wine industry in the region.

The initiative, called “Wineries with circular waste”, is the result of a partnership established with GESAMB, the company responsible for the management of urban waste in the district of Évora, and SILVEX, an innovative company in circular economy projects in Portugal in the area of ​​flexible plastics. and that will give a second life to the residues resulting from the Alentejo wine-growing activity.

Silvex's new high-tech recycling system allows the necessary traceability and has proven high efficiency in the processing of cellar waste. The Recycling System, now available free of charge to PSVA members, allows for circularity in the sector, the creation of short transport and processing chains, and also enhances the added value in the recovery of waste generated in the winery's production process.

“This project is a synergistic opportunity between the production of plastic waste used in a cellar environment and the need for raw materials on the part of SILVEX. The initiative aims to turn waste from cellars with the PSVA seal into value-added by-products”, emphasizes João Barroso, coordinator of the PSVA. The operationalization of the pilot project will be possible with the collaboration of GESAMB, which receives and controls the waste delivered by PSVA members, and later makes it available to Silvex, which will be responsible for recycling and transformation into new products.

“Wineries with circular waste” also has the support of the Portuguese Environment Agency. It is recalled that the PSVA places the Alentejo region as a pioneer in the implementation of sustainable agriculture measures and that, in 2020, it launched the only sustainable production certification seal in Portugal. Currently, PSVA already has 517 members, representing 52% of the Alentejo's vineyard area, and 11 certified producers, a number that it intends to double by the end of the year.