Junior plastic hackathon

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Plastic waste
Pixabay
Hackathon with offer young people the opportunity to create real-life solutions to the plastic crisis.

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The Junior Plastic Hackathon is the first of a UK-wide education initiative that aims to bring mainstream solutions to the global community via the collaborative efforts of environmentalists. 

The event takes place on Saturday 15 June at Wycombe Abbey. Pupils aged 8–18 from eight UK schools will join industry experts and sustainability champions from businesses such as Unilever, Veolia and Sodexo, as well as retirees passionate about the environment to develop investment-ready solutions to reduce plastic consumption in their local communities and schools.

The winning team will be invited in to Pret A Manger’s head office to present their idea to Director of Strategy and Sustainability Laura Gutowski. The teams will also have the chance to present their solutions to Tom Domen, Global head of Long Term Innovation at Ecover + method for possible pilots.

Plastic crisis 

Headmistress Rhiannon J Wilkinson said: “We are pleased to support this initiative and host the first Junior Plastic Hackathon at Wycombe Abbey.

"The girls are excited about their involvement and look forward to collaborating with others passionate about sustainability to find potential solutions to the plastic crisis.”

Dhruv Boruah, creator of the Junior Plastic Hackathon, encourages pupils to lead this change from awareness to solutions: “Now it is time for our young people to take the next step, be involved in creating real-life solutions to the plastic crisis. We have to break the current cycle of thinking and innovation.”

Jeremy Alderton, Managing Director of Independents by Sodexo, said: “At Sodexo we take our environmental responsibilities very seriously, and have committed to ensuring that 90 percent of our waste is recycled or reused by 2025.

“We have already started to reduce the amount of plastic we use. Last May (2018) we banned the use of plastic straws and stirrers, and as of World Environment Day on 5 June this year, we have stopped buying single use plastic cutlery, polystyrene containers and single use plastic bags from our schools, which includes this year’s Junior Plastic Hackathon host, Wycombe Abbey.

“We are proud to be supporting the Junior Plastic Hackathon and look forward to hearing about the ideas generated to tackle plastic pollution.”

This Article 

This article is based on a press release from Plastic Hackathon. For more information or to apply, please send an application via the website

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