New in-situ process for non-glyphosate vegetation control and decontamination of railway ballast, soil and groundwater from pollutants and glyphosate leftovers

TechnologyŠvajčiarskoTOCH20210615001
Offers
Summary: 
A Swiss SME active in the field of environmental technologies offers a physicochemical solution for rapid, in-situ and non-glyphosate vegetation control and decontamination of railway ballast, soil and groundwater from organic contaminants and herbicide leftovers. The SME is looking for partners/representatives for license, joint venture, commercial or technical cooperation agreements.
Description: 
For safety, operational and environmental requirements railway ballast and train tracks must be largely free of vegetation and organic leftovers. In addition to this, the railway ballast should be clean from organic leftovers. The common market solution to prevent and treat vegetation on railway tracks is the use of soil herbicides and leaf herbicides. However, this solution is expensive, complicate, polluting for soil and groundwater and provides a solution only for weed control. Therefore, additional treatment of ballast, soil and groundwater is required. The Swiss startup company offers a solution that is based on the in situ synthetic generation of highly concentrated superoxide radicals with surfactants and phase transfer catalysts. This approach allows non-glyphosate vegetation control and in situ efficient washing of railway ballast stones and decontaminates soil and groundwater layers. With this holistic solution, it is possible to treat railway ballast without excavation and at the same time provide weed control and treat soil and groundwater from hydrocarbon and herbicide leftovers. This is the only solution that can deal with all these problems at the same time and without the removal and replacement of the stones. This environmentally friendly process is efficient for a wide range of weeds including glyphosate-resistant plants and can be applied for contaminants up to 10% at a fraction of the cost with a conversion rate of up to 99%. The technologies have been developed in collaboration with well-known experts and specialists and with the support of an Israeli institute of Applied Chemistry which is one of the leading centers on research in the field of applied chemistry and related industries. The processes are patented (granted on national phase) and the technological stability, efficiency and environmental impacts were independently attested by laboratory tests carried out by TÜV Süd, Germany. The technology can be applied in the market of vegetation control, railway maintenance and soil and groundwater treatment. The company is looking for partners/representatives active in railway maintenance, weed control, soil treatment, groundwater treatment as well as environmental engineering offices for license, joint venture, commercial or technical cooperation agreement.
Type (e.g. company, R&D institution…), field of industry and Role of Partner Sought: 
The specific area of activity of the partner: The Swiss company is looking for companies active in railway maintenance, weed control, soil treatment, groundwater treatment as well as environmental engineering offices. The tasks to be performed by the partner sought: The Swiss company provides the technology (patents, design of machines and know-how) to the partner, who is responsible for marketing, sales and project execution, local permitting and administration. The partner is provided with trainings and support from the Swiss engineers if required. The key component of the technology remains the property of the Swiss company. The partnership can take many forms notably a license, joint venture or commercial agreement. Further collaborations such as technical cooperation agreements could also be envisaged later. - License and joint venture agreements: the Swiss company is a knowledge company and is not executing the projects. Therefore they are looking for companies that have an execution ability and manpower. License and joint venture agreements allow the Swiss company to operate in different countries on high capacity projects without developing their own capacity for project execution in each country. For a long term any of their licensees will still need the supervision and support of the Swiss company in the design of the project. - Commercial agreement with technical assistance: as a knowledge company that sees in their competitors also potential customers a commercial agreement with technical support allows the Swiss company to develop new units based on their oxidation processes to existing facilities. This kind of cooperation can give them access to a new market (“retrofit”). It will allow them to work abroad based on the existing facilities of the partners. - Technological cooperation agreement: this will allow the Swiss company to develop and upgrade their technologies based on the added value knowledge of the sought partner and will save them time and money during market penetration. At the end of the process and with a generation of joint know-how they can sign a joint venture agreement and implement their processes in the global market.
Stage of Development: 
Available for demonstration
IPR Status: 
Patents granted
Comments Regarding IPR Status: 
The company has five IPs that are already granted in the USA, EU and China
External code: 
TOCH20210615001