GreenCentre Licenses Innovative Water Purification Technology To Veolia

Deal is another step forward in GreenCentre’s mandate to help commercialize academic chemistry innovations

GreenCentre Canada has effectively brokered a licensing agreement with Veolia Water Technologies for a ground-breaking water purification technology, moving the technology from the university setting to real-world applications. This deal is another success story in GreenCentre’s ongoing mandate to help the academic community commercialize its chemistry innovations.

This newly licensed technology was originally developed by Carleton University professor Banu Örmeci and offers a fast and simple way to measure the polymer flocculent concentration in waste water streams in real time. Veolia Water Technologies, a global leader in water treatment services with headquarters in France, has been developing a process to scale up the technology and use it in real-world water purification processes.

“This is an excellent example of how GreenCentre works with its industrial partners to commercialize innovative Canadian academic chemistry technologies,” says Pete Pigott, executive director of GreenCentre Canada. “Veolia is a global leader in water treatment, and we are certainly pleased to enable them with great technologies from Canadian universities.”

Large-scale water purification for municipal and industrial waste streams is done in several steps—one of which is called “flocculation,” in which a polymer material is added to the waste stream. The water industry will greatly benefit from technology that will accurately determine the amount of flocculent in a waste stream at any point. This way, one could adjust its concentration to optimize the cleaning of the water.

Veolia Group is the global leader in optimized resource management. With over 179,000 employees worldwide, the Group designs and provides water, waste and energy management solutions that contribute to the sustainable development of communities and industries. Through its three complementary business activities, Veolia helps to develop access to resources, preserve available resources, and replenish them. Veolia Water Technologies has been a long-time sponsor of GreenCentre Canada, providing both financial and commercial support to the organization.

About GreenCentre Canada
GreenCentre provides an extensive and practical range of laboratory and intellectual property services to support the development of chemistry-driven activities in Ontario. GreenCentre offers chemistry technology development, intellectual property assessment, business development, and commercial services. The company serves the research needs of academics, entrepreneurs, and established companies by adding value across the entire development chain, through two facilities in Kingston and Mississauga, Ontario.

GreenCentre also launched its InnovationHouse web portal (www.gccinnovationhouse.com), helping entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, and industry access information and collaborate on developing early-stage chemistry technologies. For more information, visit www.greencentrecanada.com.