Faroese company Green IQ has been nominated for the Nordic Council Environment Prize 2018.
The Prime Minister of Iceland, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, presented the nominations at the LÝSA Festival of democracy in Akureyri, Iceland on 7 September and stressed the importance of the prize.
“I always follow the Nordic Council Environment Prize with great interest. Every year there are plenty of varied and progressive initiatives that point the way towards a sustainable future,” she said, according to Norden.org.
The Nordic Adjudication Committee came up with the theme in order to reward initiatives that support the UN Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, in particular number 14 “Life below water”.
Green IQ has developed Green Arc, an efficient, reliable way to treat oily water in ships, removing oil from bilge water without resorting to chemicals or filters, cutting sludge and energy costs, and doing away with the temptation to discharge polluted bilge water into the marine environment. The system has been approved by quality assurance organisation DNV-GL and patented in Europe, the USA and China. Green Arc has already been installed on 30 vessels, and more orders have been placed as shipping companies open their eyes to what the system has to offer. Green Arc can also be adapted for use in ports and aquaculture.
The Environment Prize 2018 will be awarded on 30 October during the Session of the Nordic Council in Oslo. It will be the 24th time that the DKK 350,000 prize has been awarded. Last year, the prize went to Repack (FIN) for its recyclable packaging and return system for e-commerce, writes Norden.org.
This year‘s nominees for the Environment Prize are:
Denmark:
– Plastic Change: Danish-based organisation that campaigns against plastic in the marine environment
Finland:
– Helsinki Region Environmental Services Authority: RAVITA™ innovation system for recycling phosphorous from waste water
Faroe Islands:
– Green-IQ: DUAL system for pre-separation of oil from bilge water and cutting down on sludge levels in ships
Greenland:
– The Attu Natural Resource Council on the west coast of Greenland: Local fishermen document the marine environment and suggest measures for managing it better
Iceland:
– Elding Whale Watching:Sustainable and responsible whale watching and other adventures at sea around the year
– The Icelandic Environment Association & The Blue Army for Hreinsum Ísland (Keep Iceland Clean): Clean-up events, education, training and combatting plastic waste at sea
Norway:
– Floke – Single Use Plastics: Innovation project to prevent the flow of plastics into the ocean
– WWF-Norway:The Worldwide Fund for Nature promotes a zero-tolerance vision for marine pollution
Sweden:
– Keep Sweden Tidy: Builds networks to reduce plastic litter in the marine environment
Åland:
– Ålands Vatten: Promotes sustainable drinking water supplies.