This 21st edition of Openbedrijvendag, or Open Businesses Day, puts enterprises in the spotlight that have an ecofriendly approach to materials.

This year’s theme is inspired by the cooperation with OVAM, the Flemish waste agency. Flanders is already a front runner in Europe for industrial recycling, but that is only one method of preserving materials. “Businesses have to use their commodities efficiently from the start of the production process,” says Open Business Day director Ann Van Doren. “That way it’s much easier to limit the amount of waste.” The company that succeeds best in working in accordance with the “cradle-to-cradle” principle will be the winner of the Materials in Movement award. One of the five nominees is steel giant ArcelorMittal in Ghent. “Because steel is a material that can be recycled indefinitely,” explains Van Doren. “But an additional motivation is that they recycle their waste and transfer their energy surplus to an electricity outlet.”

Since last year Open Businesses Day awards a special mention to innovative enterprises in accordance with the Flanders in Action plan (ViA), which supports entrepreneurship. A surprising highlight is the family company Dingens Barometers & Clocks. Under pressure from a prohibition on mercury in barometers, Dingens developed the Innovacelli, a barometer that works on pressure systems used in aviation.

Dingens’ presence at the World Expo in Shanghai has already gotten them a foot in the door in China and Japan; their barometers will soon be used in Antarctica by the Flemish arctic explorer Dixie Dansercoer, who will present his new expedition (which starts in November) at the company headquarters in Beringen, Limburg.

www.openbedrijvendag.be