Armando Alvarez + RedSea partner to manufacture recyclable greenhouse covers for hot climates: Saudi Arabia-based agricultural technology startup RedSea has partnered with Spain-based sustainable packaging giant Armando Alvarez Group (AAG) to jointly manufacture sustainable, heat-blocking greenhouse roofs for farming in hot climates, according to a company statement. The two signed an exclusive collaboration agreement which will see RedSea’s patented iyris SecondSky nanotechnology — which reduces daytime temperatures in covered areas while allowing up to 80% of photoselective radiation to pass through — incorporated into AAG’s fully recyclable greenhouse cover films.

The collaboration is a trailblazer in climate adaptation: RedSea’s technology has proved to save significant amounts of energy and water and extend the growing season in hot climates, co-founder and chief engineer at RedSea Derya Baran told Enterprise Climate in a June interview. Recent tests in Saudi Arabia showed over 40% reduction in energy usage and water consumption, according to Baran. This helps countries with harsh and hot environments build food security and climate resilience amid water scarcity, water salinity, and drought.

What they said: “This collaboration enables us to efficiently deploy RedSea’s innovative heat blocking technology to increase profitability for growers and farmers in hot climates,” RedSea president Simon Bryant said in the statement. “By saving water and energy, plants and humans experience less heat and water stress – making both more productive and exponentially improving profitability,” Bryant added.

About RedSea: RedSea — a university spin out from Kaust in Saudi Arabia — was founded in 2018 with a mission to use technology to help feed the world sustainably by designing, developing, and delivering one of the most advanced hot climate agtech platforms, Baran told Enterprise Climate. The company’s technology is being used by growers in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Turkey, Spain, Portugal, the US, and the UK, according to its website. Baran said that the next three to five years for the company will be focused on continuing its expansion.

RedSea has ongoing research in agritech for the region: RedSea is running a research and development facility in Kaust where it is trying new technologies and crop varieties, and has launched a one-hectare commercial greenhouse facility in Abu Dhabi.

About Armando Alvarez Group: AAG is the World’s largest converter of agricultural plastics and a leader of the European polyethylene film industry, offering solutions for the packaging, agriculture, and geosynthetics sectors, the statement said.