British start-up Adaptavate honoured with Green Alley Award win

An eco-friendly alternative to plasterboard, made up of 75% agricultural waste, took top honours at Europe's recent Green Alley Awards which celebrate the circular economy.

Produced by British start-up Adaptavate, the product Breathaboard is also fully compostable. Adaptavate now receives cash and non-cash benefits valued at up to €20,000, including six months of free co-working space in the start-up capital Berlin, where it will have the opportunity to connect with other entrepreneurs.

The circular economy as an economic driving force was the central theme of the Green Alley Award 2015, where a total of six start-ups from all over Europe presented their green business ideas. They had three minutes for their live pitches at a former light bulb factory in central Berlin, where they had to win over the expert jury with their projects. 

This year, 100 start-ups from 17 countries applied for the award.

Various experts lent their support to the live-pitch finalists, including Tom Szaky, founder and ceo of the American company TerraCycle. 

Other finalists included the British start-up Entocycle, which hopes to manufacture animal feed from black soldier flies feeding on bio-waste; Votechnik from Ireland with a technology for the eco-friendly and automated recycling of LCD screens and Dresden-based start-up Binee with a smart trash bin for electronic devices. The Berlin start-up Infarm also made it to the last round of the award with development of vertical urban greenhouses for the production of local and sustainable produce, as did the Singen-based company Solstrom with its design-table made from expired solar modules.