The Paper Province has arranged an Innovation Challenge to find solutions of what can be done with the warm water from the pulp and paper mills. The winning contribution was announced on May 22nd and it came from Vegafish! It was their contribution Cultivation of prawn in pulp and paper mills warm wastewater that was selected by the jury.
By growing prawns by the pulp and paper mills we have the possibility of an eco-friendly, tasty and locally produced seafood. The prawns are otherwise imported from environmentally damaging crops in tropical countries.
- It's great to win the Innovation Challenge. It gives a clear indication that we are on the right track! The prize means that we can take another step forward towards realization, says Matilda Olstorpe, CEO of Vegafish.
The competition was open to everyone and in total there were 19 contributions. Warm Water Innovation Challenge was arranged by The Paper Province in cooperation with BillerudKorsnäs, Nordic Paper, Rottneros, Stora Enso, Inova, ALMI, Wipab, Åmotfors Energy and Karlstad´s University.
The jury said "With a high environmental profile, the winning contribution has a unique solution to something that normally cannot be done in our northern climate. Additionally there is a clear market and a major societal economic value. The solution is also easy to scale up."
The competition was financed by VINNOVA, the Swedish Innovation Agency.