Irish Start-up BladeBridge Shortlisted for Prestigious Pan-European Circular Economy ‘Green Alley Award’
ERP Ireland calling on Irish public to vote BladeBridge into the final in Berlin
The European Recycling Platform (ERP), Ireland’s only pan-European compliance scheme for WEEE and Waste Batteries, is calling on the nation to vote for Cork-based start-up BladeBridge as they bid to compete against the cream of Europe’s circular economy start-ups in the final of this year’s Green Alley Awards. The Green Alley Awards, supported by ERP Ireland, is celebrating 10 years of championing circular economy start-ups in 2024.
Bladebridge have made the shortlist of 20 start-ups which will be whittled down to six finalists through a public vote. The six finalists will pitch their start-up concepts at a gala event in Berlin on 25th April with the overall winner collecting €25,000. BladeBridge will be competing against start-ups from Italy, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Poland, Portugal, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK.
BladeBridge is the first Irish company shortlisted for the Green Alley Awards since EDAC, an environmental compliance software provider was shortlisted in 2022.
Votes can be cast at https://green-alley-award.com/public-vote/ with the deadline of the 19th of February.
BladeBridge repurposes decommissioned wind turbine blades into sustainable infrastructure such as bridges and furniture, providing a sustainable solution to wind turbine waste which would otherwise be incinerated or sent to landfill. BladeBridge collaborates with wind farm owners and handlers of wind turbine waste to find repurposing options for their unwanted blade material.
BladeBridge recently created a pedestrian bridge on the Midleton to Youghal Greenway using two turbine blades sourced from Northern Ireland to replace steel girders for the bridge which spans 5.5 metres across a flood channel on the Dungourney river.
To date the Green Alley Award has created a community of circular economy start-ups including 1,600 applicants from over 30 countries with 54 start-ups recognised as finalists resulting in over €1.2 million investment in start-ups. The awards are dedicated to three specific high-potential fields: Recycling, Waste Prevention and Digital Solutions.
James Burgess, Country General Manager of ERP Ireland commented, “The Green Alley Award is incredibly competitive but over the years it has connected a community of like-minded green entrepreneurs and investors to drive on innovation that benefits everyone. We are delighted to see such a strong Irish entrant making it into the top twenty of the awards this year. We are calling on everyone to vote for BladeBridge to ensure they make it to the final!”
Dr Angie Nagle, CEO of BladeBridge said “We are thrilled to have been shortlisted for this year’s Green Alley Awards. It is great to see the judges recognise the innovative solution BladeBridge is providing for end-of-life management for wind turbine blades. Winning the awards would allow us to expand our operation in Cork and continue creating sustainable infrastructure that can be used all over Ireland.”