Evac Group’s R&D experts are located in the UK and Finland, where the company has its research centre. The extensive expertise of the team is instrumental.
“Our R&D team comprises two PhD holders and three other colleagues with robust technical backgrounds, collectively contributing to our expertise. At our state-of-the-art R&D centre, we are actively engaged in the comprehensive development and testing of full customer systems, ensuring authenticity in scale and conditions,” says Jari Jokela, Head of Research at Evac.
“Our solutions are based on top-notch knowledge from our scientific studies. With this strong foundation, our technical team, with a lot of experience and know-how, work closely with our product teams to develop spearhead solutions. Also, our in-house automation and data management capabilities are critical to the development”.
The R&D work requires seamless cross-functional collaboration with customers, own sales organisations, regulatory bodies and authorities to meet and exceed customer expectations. Additionally, Evac actively participates in the collaborative consortium projects across the maritime cluster, like the Business Finland founded SusFlow (Sustainability through Information Flows) project.
Pioneering in circularity
Evac is currently focusing heavily on the cruise industry that has clearly embraced the importance of resource-efficient operations to advance sustainable tourism. Evac sees the circularity as the only sustainable way forward for the industry.
“Given that a significant portion of ships visit picturesque and ecologically sensitive sea areas, minimising their environmental footprint is crucial for both cruise guests and local residents. Evac’s circular economy solutions are designed to ensure minimal emissions to water, air, and soil. Additionally, these solutions contribute to biodiversity conservation and support the development of local livelihoods in sensitive areas. For instance, our systems produce soil improvers that aid in erosion reduction for local agriculture, fostering a locally regenerative circular economy,” Jokela says.
Huge potential in the land-based business
The primary focus for R&D work is currently the transition from traditional waste treatment methods to truly sustainable circular and biocircular solutions. Mitigating microplastic discharge from ships is also high on Evac’s agenda. Evac also sees huge potential in land-based businesses when it comes to its circular innovations.
The latest innovations of the company, Evac HydroTreat, introduced a few years ago, and the latest novelty, Cathelco USP DragGone, are both significantly impacting the reduction of ship carbon emissions. “These kinds of game-changing innovations have a massive role in advancing both our customers’ sustainability goals and our business interests. For Evac HydroTreat, we also see demand rapidly growing on land. We will have interesting years ahead to see, what all the future will hold us.”
