Ichthion

Ichthion is a UK-based startup developing energy-generative systems that can be installed in rivers, coastal areas, and the oceans to prevent macro- and micro-plastics from entering the phytoplankton growth areas. As of August 2023, the company’s products (Azure, Cobalt, and Ultramarine) were at the development stage.

Azure is an enhanced barrier designed to be placed in rivers to collect up to 80 tons of plastic per day from any river. The prototype of Azure was developed and tested in February–March 2021 on the Medway River in the UK, extracting plastic waste with up to 70% efficiency. Later in July 2021, Azure was installed in the Portoviejo River in Ecuador for further testing. The company intended to install at least 11 Azure systems in Ecuadorian rivers to prevent plastic flow towards the Galapagos Islands. As of August 2023, its expansion plans included establishing a second operational site in Guayas.

Cobalt is a self-cleaning ducted turbomachinery unit, which can be installed either as a power-generating turbine or modified to be installed into a ship to extract micro and plastic particles from rivers and oceans. Ultramarine combines ram filter feeders with a secondary sorting stage and can be added onto large shipping vessels to collect large volumes of plastic.

Key customers and partnerships

• In February 2019 , Ichthion signed a letter of intent (LOI) with the Ecuador government to collect plastic waste from the country's rivers.

• In June 2021, the company partnered with Fundación Circular, an Ecuadorian NGO, to implement a program called "Green Reactivation," which promotes private companies’ environmental projects through tax incentives.