The Government of Catalonia has recognized the talent and innovation of researchers and CERCA centers with the presentation of the 2024 National Research Awards, as announced last Friday, March 21st, by the Minister of Research and Universities, Núria Montserrat.

These awards seek to recognize research excellence in Catalonia across 7 categories, including the National Innovation Award for the Creation of a Science-Based Company, granted to Ecomemb. This award aims to stimulate the creation of science-based companies, acknowledge the importance of and promote the transfer of research results to society, as well as highlight the increase in socioeconomic potential and social welfare through the formation of companies born from research.

Ecomemb Wins 2024 National Innovation Award

The award recognizes the capacity of the Universitat de Girona (UdG) and ICRA the ability to transfer research in innovative solutions for water management and the circular economy to the market through its support for the creation of ECOMEMB. Ecomemb’s membrane regeneration processes are based on technology developed by the UdG’s LEQUIA research group in collaboration with ICRA through various R&D&I projects, which enabled the technology to be patented with the support of the Valorization and Transfer Unit of the Research and Technology Transfer Office (OITT) of both institutions.

It is estimated that more than 1.5 million of these membranes are discarded worldwide each year (equivalent to 25,500 tons of plastic annually), even though around 70% could be refurbished to extend their lifespan. Ecomemb was created to minimize this problem.

Founded in December 2022, Ecomemb S.L. is the first European company specializing in the regeneration of reverse osmosis membranes for reuse in the same processes for which they were designed.

Ecomemb’s technology allows it to regenerate these membranes while minimizing the resources required and maximizing process efficiency. Regenerated membranes have up to 270 times less CO2-e emissions compared to producing a new membrane and consuming fossil resources for its production. Thus, Ecomemb works to positively impact the environmental sustainability and circular economy of industrial water treatment.

The use of Ecomemb® membranes allows:

• Save up to 60% on membrane replacement costs.
• Use less energy in filtration while maintaining the same water quality standards.
• Extending the membrane’s lifespan (in most cases, the second life is equal to the first)
• Avoid the emission of 95 kg of CO2e into the atmosphere and the generation of 15 kg of plastic waste for each regenerated membrane.

Other related news
Udg
https://www.udg.edu/ca/udg/detall-noticies/eventid/53994#:~:text=La%20Universitat%20de%20Girona%20(UdG,de%20membranes%20d’osmosi%20inversa.

ATL
https://www.atl.cat/ca/ecomemb-empresa-de-regeneracio-de-membranes-d-osmosi-inversa-guardonada-als-premis-nacionals-de-recerca_54433
xre4s
https://www.xre4s.cat/ecomemb-pnr25/

ICRA
https://icra.cat/noticia/ecomemb-premi-nacional-dinnovacio-2024-com-a-empresa-de-base-cientifica-creada-des-de-la-udg-i-licra/

Other related news within the Ecomemb blog

Jornada sobre la gestió circular de membranes per al tractament d‟aigua

L'entrada ECOMEMB Wins 2024 National Innovation Award from the Government of Catalonia as a Science-Based Company ha aparegut primer a REVERSE OSMOSIS MEMBRANES REGENERATION .