AIMPLAS, Technological Institute of Plastic, closed the 2019 financial year with ingresos of 13,3 million euros, which represents an increase of 14% over the previous year. In 2019, the technology center also made progress on corporate social responsibility by making its sustainability report be verified by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), an independent body, a pioneer in reporting and an international benchmark in sustainability reporting. AIMPLAS also calculated its social return on investment (SROI), which shows that, for every euro invested, € 7,20 was returned to society. In addition, in 2019 the construction of a new lab to work in chemical processes to obtain polymeric materials, use CO2 as an alternative carbon source, carry out chemical recycling and research in the health sector. This 1.500 m2 building was the first laboratory in Spain to achieve the BREEAM sustainable construction certification.
Of the 13,3 million euros of revenue in 2019, 73% came from a total of 226 R + D + i projects carried out, 62 of them international. In total, 493 companies (298 SMEs) participated in these projects and obtained a return of 30,8 million euros in direct aid to finance their R & D & I activities. By sectors, 34% were packaging companies, 19% recycling, 15% from the automotive and transportation industry, 10% from construction, 8% from the health sector, 5% from the electrical-electronic sector, 4% from agriculture, and 2% aeronautics.
According to the CDTI report on Spanish participation in the Horizon 2020 program (2014-2019), which analyzes the return on investment of these European projects by autonomous communities, AIMPLAS is the leading plastics technology center in the Valencian Community and in Spain . At the regional level, AIMPLAS has risen to fifth place in the ranking and has even surpassed some of the leading universities in the Valencian Community. Meanwhile, at the national level, it ranks eleventh in number of projects and economic profitability, sixth in coordinated projects and among the first four in project-employee relationship. AIMPLAS also leads the way in the percentage of coordinated projects, given that 45% of the proposals made were coordinated. This highlights the technical excellence of the AIMPLAS proposals with respect to the needs raised by the European Commission. During the H2020 program, AIMPLAS developed a total of 31 projects, 14 of which were coordinated.
The rest of the centre's income in 2019 came from 6.094 services and assessments carried out (which represent 20% of these income) and training actions: 183 courses and workshops for a total of 3.195 hours, attended by nearly 2.800 professionals from 1.226 companies (5% of this income).
CSR and social impact
All economic, environmental and social data for 2019 were collected to produce the third sustainability report, which was verified by GRI for the first time. In 2016, AIMPLAS made the decision to adhere to the United Nations Global Compact. Since then, he has reported on his CSR actions in line with the ten principles of the Covenant on human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption. In 2019, the center went one step further and became the first Spanish technology center to produce reports in accordance with GRI standards.
The AIMPLAS 2019 sustainability report includes, for the first time, the results of the calculation by a specialized external consultant of the Center's Social Return on Investment (SROI). The results of this exhaustive study on the social (non-financial) impact of all the centre's activities indicate that, for every euro invested in AIMPLAS activities in 2019, a return on investment of € 7,22 was obtained. The report also estimates that AIMPLAS contributed € 70 million to the SDGs and its impact on the circular economy amounted to € 59 million.
