Business Talk Magazine

From multi-functional devices to bringing the world to our fingertips, technology has revolutionized our world and daily lives, making them more elevated and fun. It has also fostered societal development through multiple breakthroughs. In that line, recycling waste has been a critical breakthrough. Analytical tools for eco-efficiency, industrial ecology, environmental design, eco-effectiveness, natural capital, bio-mimicry, and eco-innovation are vital in creating long-term sustainability. However, there are still many loopholes left to be filled, and organic waste (food waste) is one of them. Organic waste management has gotten little attention and focus, despite its importance. Innovation-based solutions that combine strategic waste management elements with practice-driven efforts, including incremental and radical breakthroughs, can, nonetheless, drive long-term reform.   

Ingmar Høgøy, a seasoned eco-innovator and leading persona within the aquaculture industry, was moved by the scenario. He is the founder of Greentech Innovators, an innovative company that combines science and research to create sustainable organic waste solutions.

THE VISION & THE INNOVATION 

Ingmar has spent decades in research-based companies, building expertise in R&D, product development, and process development, with a focus on aquaculture and fish by-products. He has shaped many ecopreneurships and invented patents too. His experience in aquaculture dealing with by-products from aquaculture and fisheries taught him that, while environmental concerns are being addressed, food waste remains an unsolved problem. With a vision of change, he founded Greentech Innovators and its subsidiary, AlgaePro. Initially, their focus was on reusing food waste through fermentation, which will be used as fertilizer for micro-algae cultivation in the sister concern.

But eventually, their vision expanded. “Today’s waste management challenges offer opportunities for making more sustainable use of food waste,” says Ingmar. The firm focuses on industrial segments like aquaculture, petroleum, smelteries, minerals, and waste management. It partners with research communities and innovators for the production and utilization of bio-fertilizers created from bio-waste and turns them into valuable resources for food and feed production. All their functions are eco-friendly and largely reduce greenhouse gas emissions from landfills and industry.

DRIVEN BY INTENSIVE R&D

R&D is at the heart of Greentech Innovator. Because its services are disruptive, they employ lab-scale production and constant prototyping. This helps them learn and improve and expand their horizons of knowledge. “There is a global need for our solution to improve the utilization of food waste and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We are digging for more knowledge and improvements every day, ” explains Ingmar. Their endeavors extend to weekly discussions for innovation and improvement while optimizing their process using biotechnology to convert food waste to high-value products. 

A fine example of their R&D is their daughter company, AlgaePro AS. The fermented organic waste will be used here for microalgae cultivation. This will be used as an Omega-3-rich feed supplement for aquaculture firms. The firm is partnered with BIR, one of Norway’s prominent waste management companies, to develop a complete circular economy value chain, where they will source the organic waste. In the last 2 F.Y, the firm has concluded 2 critical environmental projects, viz., DoMAR (2021-22) and the Pilot Fermentation Plant at BOB Bedrift, Flesland (2020-21). Let’s understand them broadly:

DoMAR is undertaken by three respective bodies: Greentech Innovators AS, Pagarete Microalgae Solutions, and the University of Lisbon. The focus of this project is to develop and implement customized innovations to supply the market with low-cost microalgae biomass. For the other project, Greentech Innovators received a 2.7 MNOK Environmental Technology Scheme Grant from Innovation Norway to build a pilot plant for fermentation of food waste for sustainable protein production.

Through learning and collaborating, they are building a strong international network. It gives them access to companies, resources, and R&D institutions. In the end, this helps in resolving challenges and achieving the goals they’ve set out for.

THE DYNAMIC AND CREATIVE CREW 

Innovation thrives on disciplinary execution. Without certain boundaries, timelines, or set outcomes, innovating overwhelms people with options. Without a proper structure, any effort towards innovation will produce poor results. Disconnecting from the routine and spending some spare time ruminating over the fancy notion eventually becomes a chore. Greentech Innovators, however, stay way ahead of such debacles. Learning and collaborating are the two core philosophies of the firm. Even in the face of failure, they maintain a learning mindset. This keeps them open-minded and iron-clad in their search for solutions.  

Discussing challenges and not being afraid of failure is important to inspire creativity in employees. Over the last two years, the pandemic has brought an advent of uncertainties and confusion for them. They had to adhere to restrictions while dealing with practical problems like educating employees. Simultaneously, there were challenges in funding as investors were more risk-averse. However, since the pandemic, the “green shift” and sustainable development have gained a lot of attention, and the team is putting their efforts together to have good investors onboard.

MORE THAN A BUSINESS: A MISSION 

Greentech Innovators started with a mission, a goal that everyone should care about. Food waste is not something to be overlooked. It contributes to 11% of Methane emissions (a greenhouse gas 70 times stronger than CO₂. “It’s essential to comprehend how we may employ precious resources found in food waste to create more long-term solutions,” says Ingmar. He and his team have found the solution in using microbes and microalgae to convert food waste into highly demanded and valuable proteins and Omega-3. In fact, they have made great progress in their scientific endeavors. However, limited funding has reduced the speed of scaling and commercializing their solutions for more sustainable waste management. Hence, it’s welcoming like-minded investors to invest their resources in sustainable solutions to shape a better future for the world.

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