A group of young people from Corrientes created an innovative and revolutionary project: they reused sawdust to create ecological thermoacoustic panels.
The panels are biodegradable, allowing the management of an abundant and problematic waste in the timber industry. The team won the first prize at the Ideatón Federal 2024, held in Buenos Aires, with their project.
“Placas Porá”: the innovative project that reuses sawdust
This initiative is called “Placas Porá, the commitment to care”. Among its objectives, it aims to significantly reduce the accumulation and burning of sawdust in locations like Santa Rosa, where the issue causes pollution and affects neighboring communities.
From these waste materials, they create panels, 20×20 cm and 4 cm thick, with the addition of a biodegradable adhesive based on dextrin, derived from starch.
This design not only reuses the waste but is also moisture-resistant, lightweight, and completely environmentally friendly.
The authors of the project are Zoraida Vallejos, Nicolás Duarte, Nahuel Monzón (Capital), Maximiliano Pérez (Goya), Karen Leiva (Sauce), and Briant Ojeda Falcón (Santa LucÃa).
The project benefits both the business sector by offering a profitable new use for waste and the province by improving environmental quality.
“Our goal is to utilize almost 100% of the sawdust to prevent it from being burned, generating carbon dioxide emissions and other harmful gases,” explained Duarte, one of the authors, to El Litoral.
The project was developed as part of the Management for Development program of the Federal Investment Council (CFI), where participants receive training for a year and conclude with the design of a public policy for the province of Corrientes.
Placas Porá was selected as the best project in Corrientes and later won first place in the Ideatón.
“We propose a real solution to a current problem, from an economic, environmental, and public management perspective. The idea arose because we wanted to contribute something tangible to our province,” Duarte recounted.
Real possibilities in the Province
This invention also seeks to promote the development of innovative public policies that can be replicated in other regions of the country, demonstrating that industrial waste can be transformed into solutions for a more sustainable future.
Now, the creators are in talks with the Ministry of Finance of the province to assess the feasibility of implementing the project on a large scale.
“We have a key meeting next week with provincial officials. Our dream is to see this project in operation, contributing to the sustainable development of Corrientes,” added Nicolás Duarte.
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