MicroChange is a dedicated startup company located in Denmark's maritime center, Svendborg. We are working with determination to develop a sustainable solution for handling ballast water on board ships. Our solution meets current and upcoming legal requirements for treating ballast water, but at the same time has an environmental benefit as it also removes plastic pollution from the world seas.

With our solution, shipping will not only serve as a traditional means of transportation but also have a secondary function as a sailing purification unit - contributing positively to the global maritime strategy of protecting and utilizing resources from the world seas.

We are all passionate about contributing to the development of a new technological solution that takes environmental factors, sustainability and utilization of the nature's resources into consideration.

Plastic pollution is an increasing global challenge. There are currently registered more than 160 million tons of plastic particles in the world seas alone - and further 8 million tons are being discharged into the ocean every year.

We strive to actively reduce plastic pollution in the oceans, with our solution that not only meets the maritime sector's need to comply with the ballast water convention, but also makes the procedure environmentally friendly and sustainable.

In short, we aim to filter microplastics and marine biomass from ballast water which limits plastic pollution and makes sustainable energy production possible. Our goal is to enable recycle of marine biomass as an energy source directly accessible as fuel on board ships while minimizing plastic pollution in the oceans. The solution will not only bring value within the maritime industry, but also for companies using a large volume of seawater in their daily production.

Our journey started during a development course at the marine engineering master's education at SIMAC in 2019. Since then, more people have joined our team, which now includes 5 members with a broad variety of skills, all directly linked to the succession of the development.

In less than year, we have participated in and won both regional and national entrepreneurial competitions with our innovative solution – which lead us to partake in the European entrepreneurial championship, where we ranked 2nd runner up with our solution.

We are still in the process of developing the most efficient solution – and are ready to let you in on a little more very soon. Our journey has been fast and instructive so far, and we are gratified with the support we have received in and outside the maritime industry already.

As a startup company, we see several benefits in sharing knowledge with others. This is not only in the attempt to develop an innovative and sustainable solution, but we find that the best solutions arise when people share knowledge and collaborate. This could also be in relation to FN’s Sustainable development goals and the influence between the goals in relation to each other. Our solution will have an impact on SDGs 7, 12 & 14.

You are more than welcome to get in touch - we look forward hearing from you.

The global ocean plastic pollution will have increased by 50% by 2030 if the problem hereof is not addressed and acted upon now. We already see a great deal of global awareness and activity in plastic pollution management, whereby a general change in culture can result in a reduction of the problem. However, even with a cultural change, the plastic that has already been discharged into the world seas will continue to break down. Plastic elements such as bottles, bags and packaging break down into smaller pieces, that won’t be possible to collect at the ocean surface.

In addition to the problem of plastic pollution, there is a growing demand for sustainable energy production. In line with the global regulation of fossil fuel use, production must be supplemented with green solutions.

Marine biomass is an extremely energy-rich source, that could be utilized in green production solution with huge benefits to the sea’s biodiversity at the same time. Due to the release of nutrients from agriculture several countries including Denmark, are experiencing an increase in algae growth, which causes oxygen depletion which has catastrophic consequences for marine animals and plants.