Six neighborhood sports courts in Santiago will clean the air like a thousand trees thanks to Photio

An EBCT that took part in Know Hub Ignition, Know Hub’s program to support the creation and maturation of science- and technology-based ventures, is part of an Adidas campaign to promote sport by painting sports courts in six municipalities of the Santiago Metropolitan Region.

All the renovated courts will be painted with paint containing Photio, which, on contact with sunlight, simulates the process of photosynthesis and purifies the air, so each court does the work of around 1,000 mature trees.

From July 21 to December 15, 2022, Adidas will run its campaign to promote sport in communities by renovating six neighborhood courts in the municipalities of Quinta Normal, La Florida, La Cisterna, Independencia, Renca and Cerrillos.

The activity seeks to promote sport at the community level, says Jerome Leveq, general manager of Adidas: “Today we are partners of many teams and athletes, locally and globally, whom we help push their limits through our products. But we also have to be able to bring sport closer to more vulnerable communities. That is why this action is key, as we seek to democratize access to sport for those who, for various reasons, cannot easily access it.”

But it will not only have a positive impact on communities by encouraging sport; it will also make a major contribution to caring for the environment: all the renovated courts will be painted with paint containing Photio, whose properties, on contact with sunlight, simulate the process of photosynthesis and purify the air, so each court does the work of around 1,000 mature trees.

The additive developed by the Photio team, which took part in Know Hub Ignition, Know Hub’s program to support the creation and maturation of science- and technology-based ventures, breaks down polluting gases such as carbon monoxide and methane, transforming them into inert compounds (a photochemical process). One square meter painted with this nanotechnology is equivalent to the air-cleaning effect of two mature trees. In this way, the walls of houses and buildings become environmental decontaminants.

Matías Moya, executive director of Photio, emphasizes that with Photio they are transforming shared infrastructure, such as plazas, highways or sports courts, into elements that improve people’s lives through nanotechnology by purifying the air they breathe. “In this sense, we are collaborating with large companies to transform the way we understand sustainability and the way we can solve the problem of pollution,” he stresses.