INTEC and Origin By Ocean sign agreement to export sargassum
The objective of the project is to make comprehensive use of seaweed, through the application of circular economy concepts by processing sargassum in Finland.
SANTO DOMINGO. The Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC) and the company Origin By Ocean signed un inter-institutional collaboration agreement that will allow the application of principles of circular economy making the most of all the components of the sargasso that invades the coasts of the Dominican Republic.
Sargassum is currently exported to Finland to be bioprocessed by the company Origin by Ocean, which converts the algae into raw material for the textile, cosmetic and food industries.
El INTEC is the scientific counterpart in the Dominican Republic responsible for analyzing the molecules of all the sargassum samples that are exported to the European country. The INTEC laboratories have been equipped with state-of-the-art tools and Finnish scientists have visited the university to define the protocols that will support this important project. The university leads the Sargassum Research Roundtable, which has a dozen ongoing projects aimed at predicting, exploiting and minimizing the impact of the arrival of sargassum to the coasts of the Dominican Republic.
Origin by Ocean is a Finland-based company founded in 2018 with the mission of addressing the problem of ocean pollution and contributing to environmental sustainability. The company has a patent to bioprocess different species of algae, especially sargassum. Origin by Ocean's operations are carried out through a collaborative management model that involves several strategic partners in the country in efforts to turn the sargassum problem into a positive and ecologically sustainable solution.
With this collaboration, INTEC reaffirms its purpose of becoming a preferred partner of government and private sectors in favor of the sustainable development of the country, especially through research inspired by innovative projects with high scientific and technological content.