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OCBC will provide two companies with S$80,000 funding for coming up with solutions which aim to turn waste into energy, and create circularity of consumer products.
The companies, U.S.-based Enexor BioEnergy and local company TRIA, emerged as winners of the inaugural OCBC Sustainability Innovation Challenge.
The challenge was launched in June 2022 to identify sustainability-related challenges faced by the bank's corporate customers, and source for solutions from around the world that can be commercialised, OCBC said.
This year's challenge owner is SATS, the ground handling and in-flight catering service provider for Changi Airport.
Two challenge statements related to SATS food and beverage operations were posed:
- How to turn waste into energy or other by-products of value
- How to create circularity of consumer products
Recycling food waste and packaging
Relating to the second challenge statement on circularity, Singapore-based company TRIA took the top spot.
"Once stained, food packaging is difficult to recycle", OCBC said.
Typically, packaging to be recycled needs to be washed and separated from its food contents, and contaminated food packaging cannot be recycled.
However, the pilot by TRIA will see the development of food packaging that can be recycled along with its food contents, without the need for segregation.
Funding from OCBC will be used to develop packaging made from TRIA's proprietary NEUTRIA technology as well as the fabrication of a Rapid Depolymerisation Module.
These will treat both food and packaging waste, turning it into fertiliser and energy.
The pilot is expected to commence in Q4 2022, and it will last for eight months.
Post-piloting, an evaluation will be done and there is the possibility of replicating the solution across the SATS operations network using a plug-and-play model.
Other proposals in this category include a packaging solution made from seaweed and natural materials that disappear naturally, an idea by a UK-based company.
Lin Qing Yao, Close-The-Loop Manager at TRIA, shared that the company had previously worked with KFC Singapore and at events like Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix.
TRIA's NEUTRIA technology is being used in a pilot for plant-based food packaging at Northpoint City's KFC.
Food is fuel
Enexor BioEnergy responded to the first challenge statement with their pitch to use their proprietary technology, an organic waste-fuelled micro-turbine, at SATS' catering operations in Singapore.
Dubbed the "Bio-CHP" system, the technology converts organic and plastic waste into renewable electricity generation and thermal energy.
All these are done onsite.
Funding from OCBC will go towards pilot design and implementation, including site assessments, permitting, carbon credit validation and verification efforts, and other operational tests and studies.
The pilot process is expected to begin in Q1 2023, and the system is expected to be operational by Q4 2023.
According to Lee Jestings, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Enexor BioEnergy, the company's technology will be deployed at Changi Airport and will provide onsite renewable energy to power operations.
Other proposals that made the finals in this category also focused on converting food waste into an energy source.
One proposal is a system by a Japanese company to convert organic waste into fertiliser, livestock feed and waste renewable fuel within 24 hours.
Additional support from OCBC possible
Spencer Low, Chief Data and Sustainability Officer at SATS, congratulated the winning teams and expressed his eagerness to pilot the solutions.
"Our customers look to us as a strategic partner, and we will do our utmost to treat waste in the right manner and meet our goal of halving food waste intensity by 2028", Low remarked.
"We look forward to future editions of the OCBC Sustainability Innovation Challenge which could see us identifying and addressing challenges and problem statements in different industries with our other corporate customers", Mike Ng, Head of Global Wholesale Banking Sustainability Office at OCBC, said.
OCBC said that it will consider providing further support, including additional financing, for promising solutions beyond the initial testbed provided by the challenge.
Top image via OCBC