technology

Inspired by Nature. Driven to Protect it.
We have developed three types of technology streams, Azure, Cobalt and Ultramarine. These operate in different environments to prevent macro and micro plastics entering into the phytoplankton growth areas in coastal zones, and also for the reclamation of plastics in the ocean.
Our technologies have been designed to provide data with regards to the plastic that is being extracted. This data is used to inform governments about the scale of the problem and provide insight into how policies can be adapted to embrace circular economy principles, all with the goal of reducing plastic pollution.
The potential of our energy-generative systems to tackle the global problem of plastic pollution has been recognised by several prominent organisations through several awards and grants. For example, the Scalable Business Award by Imperial College London, three grants from Climate-KIC, the EU’s main climate innovation initiative, the Hawley Award from the Worshipful Company of Engineers, and in September 2018 we were awarded a grant of £600,000 by Innovate UK, as part of the competition “Plastics Innovation: Towards zero waste”. In 2020, the Benioff Ocean Initiative and the Coca-Cola Foundation awarded us $ 1M, which allowed us to develop and implement the first Azure system on the Portoviejo River in Ecuador.
Over the last three years, Ichthion has filed several international PCT applications related to the Azure, Cobalt and Ultramarine technology propositions. The first application (PCT/GB2019/051937) for the Cobalt and Ultramarine systems and the second application (PCT/GB2020/050341) for the Azure river system. Both of these applications have progressed through the first, international stage of the process, where an international preliminary examination has been completed. For more information about our technologies and investment opportunities, please contact us.
Azure – macro plastics in rivers:
This system is an enhanced barrier designed for deployment in rivers to prevent plastic waste from reaching marine environments. It can collect up to 80 tonnes of plastic per day from any river. Considering its collection capacity and the value of the upcycled plastic, Azure is a commercially-feasible solution that allows the deployment of new recycling technologies in deprived areas across developing economies and provides a return of investment within three years. For this reason, Azure systems aim to integrate with the latest recycling technologies (we have a partnership with several companies developing cutting-edge technology for recycling or repurposing the waste). Our Azure system is currently in Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6.
Cobalt – micro and plastic particles in rivers and coastal areas:
A self-cleaning system that utilizes the relative motion of its host infrastructure to extract plastic pollution from fluvial and marine environments in a scalable and financially viable approach. The device built is a self-cleaning, ducted turbomachinery unit that can be installed either as a power-generating turbine or modified to be installed into a ship. When used as a turbine, water enters the system due to tidal flow and the turbine blades extract energy from the water; when in drive format, water is drawn in and forced out of the back by impellers. In both cases, as water passes through the system, material is trapped during its passage by a series of staged membranes. Rotating armatures clean these membranes by sweeping material off and pushing it outwards radially, where it is extracted out of the system by a series of no return valves. Cobalt is in TRL 3.
Ultramarine – Dynamic system for ships:
Through combining the scale and efficiency of ram filter feeders with a secondary sorting stage, the system is able to collect large volumes of plastic whilst preventing high marine collateral. The system is designed to be retrofitted or built into large shipping vessels based on the high travel volumes and overlap with the coastal regions thought to be critical to countering ocean plastics. Ultramarine is in TRL 2 (Invention and Research).