NOVAMONT among the representatives of the Mediterranean countries at the Bluemed meeting organized by the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the European Union

On the 18-19 of April took place in Sliema (Malta) the event “BLUEMED – A basin of research and innovation for sustainable growth”, organized in the framework of the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the European Union with the objective of promoting a cooperation of Mediterranean countries by boosting Blue Growth which can lead to job opportunities at local level.

The BLUEMED initiative offers a shared strategic framework for working towards a healthy, productive and resilient Mediterranean Sea that is better known and valued.

NOVAMONT – among the speaker invited – was present with Francesco Degli Innocenti, Responsible for Ecology of Products and Environmental Communication, within the panel “A litter-free Mediterranean   Sea. Utopia or Reality?”. Bearing in mind that prevention is the main way to reduce littering, it was shown that plastics that are proven to be biodegradable in the marine environment can be used in those applications where accidental release is certain or very likely. For example, in professional applications such as aquaculture (tubular net made of fine plastic mesh for mussels farming) and to avoid the abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gears. Materials developed by NOVAMONT were characterized for biodegradation with marine matrices. Laboratory tests have shown biodegradation levels of 90% in less than 1 year testing. The results have been verified by Certiquality within the EC Environmental Technology Verification programme.