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Australia has been at the forefront of countless technological breakthroughs throughout our history. From Wi-Fi to cochlear implants, black box flight recorders to ultrasound scanners, our island nation has long punched above its weight when it comes to our capacity for ingenuity and innovation.
Now, the next frontier of Australian invention lies in the crucial agri-tech space, where the Aussie startup ALBON is on the cutting edge of the sector’s environmental efforts. ALBON’s modular system treats wastewater with algae, turning the waste it captures into biochar, a carbon-rich, charcoal-like substance used in soil improvement, carbon sequestration, livestock feed additives, building materials, and more. Since its founding in 2023, ALBON has received international recognition, winning numerous awards and grants from across the globe.
Key among these accolades was the LG Life’s Good Award in 2025 with its accompanying AUD$5,000 grant. The ALBON team secured this coveted prize through its participation in the Hatch: Taronga Accelerator Program, a collaboration between Taronga Conservation Society Australia and LG Electronics Australia that acts as a launch platform for ecopreneur startups. Since then, ALBON has maintained an impressive trajectory. Led by CEO John Phipps, this team of humble but ambitious home-grown innovators is out to make a real-world difference.
How ALBON’s System Works
Feeding a country generates staggering volumes of dirty water, and dealing with it is shockingly expensive.
Built to address the wastewater needs of industries such as meat processing, dairy, and other food manufacturing, ALBON’s system facilitates easy deployment in the field without the need for expensive infrastructure overhauls. For John and his team, the goal is to help as many operators as possible have a positive environmental impact.
As the CEO explains, “ALBON started as a mission to capture CO2. We wanted to make doing good for the environment part of the business model. What we found is that the food systems we rely on are broken. We spend hundreds of billions of dollars extracting and creating conutrients for farming, then hundreds of millions more trying to strip those same nutrients back out of wastewater. The old technology we rely on can’t keep up with growing demand, and our ecosystems suffer as a result. We’re working to make this cheaper for the farmers feeling that pressure, while capturing CO2 and making sustainable options possible across Australia and beyond.”
The way it all works is the ALBON team installs its module, which draws high-strength effluent (liquid waste or sewage) from the client’s lagoon or primary treatment stage directly into the ALBON system.
Once the wastewater has been drawn, a stable mix of algae and bacteria removes nitrogen and phosphorus from the effluent biologically (i.e. without chemical dosing). The treated effluent, with up to 95 per cent of its nitrogen and phosphorus now removed, is then discharged under licensed conditions or directed to on-site reuse.
As a final step, the algal biomass captured by the process is converted on-site to biochar. As referenced above, this can then be used in a range of ways, including enhancing the quality of soil, in building materials, and in livestock feed to improve animal health, boost digestion, and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Empowering Innovation Through Technology
None of ALBON’s important work would be possible without the right equipment. To further support the startup’s team, LG recently donated eight UltraWide Curved Monitors, freeing staff from having to manage demanding tasks like CAD modelling, large-dataset analysis, and reporting on their small laptop screens alone.
“When we’re not in the field, we work out of our office, our lab, and a workshop we operate alongside the University of Sydney. A lot of that work ends up being 3D modelling, assembling bill of materials, and dynamic fluid modelling, and it’s tough when you don’t have enough screen space to work through these complex challenges,” reveals John. “With these monitors, LG has helped us make the most of the team’s skills, which enables us to better focus on the task at hand.”
As the name suggests, each of these LG monitors features an UltraWide display, providing more screen real estate for ALBON team members to optimise multitasking and collaboration. They also offer the kind of advanced performance hardware that’s needed to support demanding workloads, as well as high refresh rates. This enables more fluid CAD modelling and 3D rendering, helping the team create higher-fidelity assets that communicate effectively with clients, colleagues, and potential investors, thereby enabling ALBON’s important work to continue.
According to Gemma Lemieux, Marketing Director for LG Electronics Australia, ALBON’s efforts demonstrate why LG is devoted to supporting the next generation of Australian eco-ingenuity: “ALBON showcases why LG has invested over AUD$1.2 million in the Hatch program since 2024*. John and his team’s work provides an inspiring example of how Australians continue to lead the world in the all-important ecopreneur space.”
The Next Australian Success Story
John and co. have plenty of work ahead of them, but thanks to their tenacity, ALBON is already becoming a standard bearer for meaningful, sustainable innovation. When asked if this is something he thinks about, the CEO explains that he’s more concerned with ultimately having a positive impact on the ground, but if that inspires others to do the same, well, that can only be a good thing.
“It’s not something I think about a great deal, but the more of us working towards better sustainability measures, the better,” he says. “In the meantime, we’ll keep doing what we can to make sure ALBON is contributing to genuine progress in the agri-tech space.”
With ALBON and LG’s shared commitment to ecopreneurial innovation, the future of Australian agri-tech looks bright. It’s proof that when ingenuity meets purpose, our nation’s next great breakthrough can come from anywhere, including the paddocks and processing plants that feed us all.
*This includes LG’s formal partnership with the Taronga Foundation as well as a significant investment to support the amplification of Hatch and its participating startups.
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