Baza danych projektów PROW

Investment in new equipment by the 'Green Smiles' Granite Processing Company, created a new range of environmentally friendly, recycled granite products, made from waste material for use as patios, paving, sidewalks and leisure areas.

The Pinhel region of Portugal, where the project was developed, is an area where granite extraction is an important industrial sector, due to the geological characteristics of the region. Granite extracted from quarries was not being used efficiently with large amounts of waste product. Over time this was having a negative environmental impact upon the region. In response, a new micro-enterprise, Green Smile, Granitos Reciclados Ltd was founded.

The main objective of the project was to transform granite waste into finished stone materials for use in paving streets, sidewalks, leisure areas, as well as into decorative gravel for gardens. The project also aimed to utilize 100% of the extracted granite raw material, to introduce more environmentally friendly production practices and create new employment opportunities

The main activities of the project included (i) Development of the business plan; (ii) Acquisition of specific equipment to upgrade production processes including a new Crusher/Jackhammer to disintegrate stone waste; a machine for cutting pavement into specific molds; a cube-production machine that can transform granite into cubes; a vehicle for delivering finished materials to customers; (iii) Improvement of the marketing & sales activities to promote the new granite product range

The project was successful in establishing new production processes that could utilise 100% of the granite extracted. A new and more diversified product range was created and marketed which led to an expansion of sales, both domestically and in other international market, mainly Spain and France. The expansion of the company also created 2 new job opportunities and contributed to the environmental preservation of the area.

Investment in new technology can create new job opportunities and can lead to improvements in production practices that have a real and lasting environmental benefit.

Freixedas, Pinhel, Guarda

Centro

Mainland

48 980

23 510

5 878

19 592

Alfredo Manuel Branquinho Pinheiro

alfredopinheiro@sapo.pt

+351 919531666

French, Spanish