What if toxic, foul-smelling seaweed could be turned into high-grade organic fertiliser? A Monaco-based project doing just that has won the acclaimed Blue Circle Award at the 2026 OceanLove Innovation Awards.
The annual awards, organised by the volunteer-run non-profit OceanLove, recognise early-stage grassroots innovations tackling ocean pollution, overfishing, and climate change. The 2026 edition drew a record 487 applications from 91 countries, an 80% increase on 2025.
The project, titled ‘What If Sargassum Could Give Back?’, is headed by Josée Dancause of Monaco-based Grogenics and piloted in Belize. It secured top honours both from an international panel of expert judges and through a global public vote during a live-streamed ceremony at AltaSea in the Port of Los Angeles on Sunday 11th October.
A lightweight solution to a heavyweight problem
Tons of floating seaweed wash onto Caribbean shores every year. As it rots on the beach, it traps sea turtles and gives off toxic gas. Traditional responses rely on heavy machinery that damages dunes or simply relocates the waste to landfills.
Grogenics intercepts sargassum in shallow waters before decomposition begins, utilising lightweight electric vehicles on beaches to protect turtle nesting sites. The seaweed is cleaned of heavy metals and salt, then converted into nutrient-rich organic soil.
The initiative, already an endorsed UN Ocean Decade project and a World Economic Forum UpLink winner, received USD $10,000 in seed funding, a year of executive coaching, and global media support.
Putting Monaco on the global conservation map
The Blue Circle victory highlights the Principality’s growing influence as an incubator for international environmental innovation.
“The ideas were never the scarce thing, the platform was,” said Ilco van der Linde, Founder of OceanLove, which operates under the high-profile endorsement of renowned marine biologist Dr. Sylvia Earle and former Unilever CEO Paul Polman.
Following the win, OceanLove announced it is actively seeking a Country Ambassador for Monaco to help expand its network of ocean innovators across the Principality.
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Photo credit: OceanLove