The 10 finalists in the UK  had the opportunity to pitch their ideas at Cody Dock, a creative hub on the Lower Lea River, where they  impressed both the jury and the public.

The jury (consisting of: Merijn Everaarts – Founder of Dopper; Andrew Hughes – Photographer and Artist; Maria Coronado Robles – Senior Consultant in Natural Resources at Euromonitor International; Jamie Rowles – Investment Processes Lead and Portfolio Manager at Sky Ocean Ventures; Debra Guo – Environmental Sustainability Manager at Stella McCartney; and Lizzie Carr – Activist, author and adventurer) decided on the following winners:

Marcus Rodin, 1st place

The objective of Marcus’ project is to convert kelp into a usable product, for example; packaging, building, etc. As one of the fastest growing organisms on the planet, kelp can be farmed to achieve carbon sequestration and converted into an extrudable bioplastic, locking the carbon inside the material.

Mia Wreford, 2nd place

The phenomena and management of abandoned, lost, or other discarded fishing gear, otherwise known as ‘ghost fishing’ is a considerable concern for marine health and the global economy. Mia is researching the potential to valorise and recycle this material sustainably through an innovative process of thermal cracking.

Sarah Kakadellis, 3rd place

Sarah’s research project will address the sustainability of conventional and biodegradable plastics in the field of food packaging. Since the use of plastic is a contentious issue, but the prevention of food waste it can contribute is often overlooked.

 

Our other finalists, in no particular order:

• Alexander Kumi-Larbi Jr
• Haamid Iqbal, Nikhil Ramaraj, Olga Milevska and Sara Thanyaset
• Hannah Guest
• Michail Dzigajev
• Mohamed Kamal
• Ondrej Ludvik
• Uma Dassaye, Chitra Yadav and Arihant Jain