INNOVATION – South Mediterranean entrepreneurs well represented in the award ceremony of the Zero Plastic Waste Challenge at Viva Tech Paris

An App to boost recycling while creating jobs for vulnerable populations in Mediterranean cities? A cleaning robot for floating waste and oil slicks? Mycelium as an alternative to polystyrene to stop the invasion of plastic microbeads on our beaches?

These three solutions were awarded by the jury of the “Zero plastic waste in the Mediterranean in 2030” challenge and honored by the South Region – Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and ANIMA Investment Network during the VivaTechnology 2019 exhibition in Paris.

Following an international call for applications, more than 60 proposals from 11 countries have been received and 15 projects successfully passed the first selection stage to participate in a bootcamp held on 23 and 24 April 2019 in Marseille and at thecamp.

After a lively debate, the 10 members of the jury chose to award Iadys and its surface marine robot made in the South Region, MycoConcept, who refines its biomaterial project by focusing with a 100% local supply, as well as LiveLoveRecycle, which helped create 420 jobs by collecting 30 tonnes of waste in less than 9 months in Beirut, and relies on the support of the Region and its ecosystem to establish itself in France by adapting its App and operating model to local institutional, economic and social conditions.

“For this first challenge launched to the THE NEXT SOCIETY network thanks to the initiative of the South Region, Mediterranean entrepreneurs proved their solutions could easily compete with those of their European counterparts: we were often impressed by their maturity and thoughtful market strategies. We are particularly pleased with the Special Jury Prize, LiveLoveRecycle from Lebanon, which combines digital technology with social and environmental impact. This project is particularly illustrative of this new generation of Mediterranean and African entrepreneurs who bring innovative and complementary responses to the efforts of public authorities to address contemporary major issues of sustainable development.”

Emmanuel Noutary

General Delegate, ANIMA Investment Network and initiator of THE NEXT SOCIETY.

Nielsen Recycling, a Tunisian company which exports a universal waste compactor to some twenty African and European countries and joined THE NEXT SOCIETY Club, was a member of the challenge jury. Its CEO Mokhtar Zannad welcomes the initiative of the South Region, which through this challenge “brings together actors from the North and South of the Mediterranean. Let’s not forget that this is a virtually closed sea and that a bottle thrown in Beirut can end up in Marseilles in a few weeks. This cradle of many of our civilisations is in danger today. It is time to act before there is more plastic than fish. This kind of challenge and the new projects carried out by young startuppers contribute perfectly to it.”

Discover the 15 selected projects and the experts associated with this 1st challenge