Aspla’s “Turn it on in pink” campaign raises 15,000 euros donated to IBBTEC for breast cancer research
Ranchers from all over the world have changed the color with which they wrap their forage bales, joining the solidarity initiative.
For the third consecutive year, the company Aspla-Plásticos Españoles SA has made a donation, this time of 15,000 euros, to the Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology of Cantabria (IBBTEC), a joint center between the University of Cantabria, the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) and the regional government.
The full amount will be allocated to research against breast cancer, as explained this morning by Tomás Gómez Lavín, CEO of the company Aspla-Plásticos Españoles SA; Piero Crespo Baraja, director of the Research Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology of Cantabria (IBBTEC) and Andrés García de Tuñón, director of Sustainability of the Armando Álvarez Group in the town of Quijas, where a demonstration was carried out by one of the farmers of the wrapping of bales of forage with pink plastic, which is precisely the gesture that promotes the campaign “Turn it on pink”, promoted by the Torrelaveguense company: replace the usual color of the plastic film, which is usually white, black or green, for pink, identified with the fight against breast cancer.
Gómez Lavín has highlighted the satisfaction that the company produces having achieved the objective of tripling the donation with respect to the one given in the first year of the campaign and has confirmed his commitment so that in the coming years this figure “continues to grow and nurture research” .
For his part, Andrés García de Tuñón, director of Corporate Sustainability of the Armando Alvarez Group, has indicated that “we are very happy because we see that there is a progression in fundraising in this solidarity initiative that began three years ago.” With this gesture, it has been possible to fill the fields with pink which “is quickly identified with the fight against breast cancer”, as García de Tuñón recalled.
“This year many herds from France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, the Czech Republic and even Costa Rica have joined, but the participation of herds is mainly Spanish and, of course, from Cantabria,” he said. .
The donation, as explained by Piero Crespo, director of the IBBTEC, has been allocated in the two previous years to the study of a tumor marker and in the same way it will be done with the new contribution. “We already have a few candidate markers to analyze and we will continue with it, because cancer research is complicated and it is a long-distance race”, explained Crespo, who has transferred his gratitude, in addition to Aspla, to the farmers who ” they have opted for solidarity in an environment of increasing costs for the sector “.
For his part, Diego Mantecón, a farmer from Quijas who has carried out the sample of the pink curb on his farm, has pointed out that “I believe that if we all contribute a grain of sand, the solution will be investigated first.”
About IBBTEC
Created in 2007, IBBTEC is a mixed research institute owned by the University of Cantabria, the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) and the regional government through Sodercan (Society for the Development of Cantabria).
With an important international projection, the institute has two basic objectives: on the one hand, to carry out basic and applied research of excellence in biomedicine and biology of animal cells and microorganisms, as well as their biotechnological applications and, on the other, to transfer the knowledge generated to the sector productive and society.
To fulfill these purposes, it has around 100 professionals, including researchers, specialized technicians and management personnel. With 19 research groups, distributed in the Departments of Cellular and Molecular Signaling and Microbiology and Genomics, it develops scientific activity around 6 research areas: Cancer, Immunology, Developmental Biology, Microbiology and Genomics, Structural Biology and Neuropharmacology.
About Aspla
The Aspla company is part of the Armando Álvarez Group, chaired by José Ramón Álvarez Ribalaygua, son of the founder, which has reached a production capacity of close to 400,000 tons per year of sustainable plastic polymers and a turnover of 980 million euros, with a 2,375 people. The industrial Group is immersed in the process of promoting the circular economy through the development of recycling R&D projects that provide effective solutions for the environment.
Photo: The general director of Aspla-Plásticos Españoles, Tomás Gómez, presents the director of IBBTEC, Piero Crespo, a symbolic check of the donation, together with members of the company.
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