GCA winner 2020: SeaChange Technologies

Separating and cleaning wastewater to eliminate toxic sludge in landfills.
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For many people, new seasons mean new colour trends. But before the latest fashion piece caught your attention, it likely went through an extensive dyeing and finishing process at the factory, an undertaking that emits great volumes of greenhouse gases and pollutes the water. And that’s not the end of it. You see, polluted water turns into a thick toxic sludge that is tough to handle. Every day, the apparel industry generates hundreds of tonnes of murky sludge which is often dumped in landfills.
This solution connects a smart gadget to the existing systems. The innovation separates the water from toxins with the help of a powerful jet turbine. The result? Zero sludge! Instead, the toxins are separated into a neat, manageable powder while the clean water is turned into a mist that can be released or reused. Through this process, the carbon footprint is significantly reduced too.
Let’s be colourful, but crystal clear: no more toxic sludge!
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Global Change Award was initiated 2015 by H&M Foundation, a non-profit global foundation, privately funded by the Stefan Persson family, founders and main owners of H&M Group. By catalysing early stage innovations that can accelerate the shift from a linear to a circular fashion industry, the aim of the Global Change Award is to protect the planet and our living conditions. Each year the five winning teams share a grant of €1 million and get access to a one-year accelerator program provided by the H&M Foundation, in collaboration with Accenture and KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Neither the H&M Foundation nor the H&M group take any equity or intellectual property rights in the innovations. globalchangeaward.com