Program aims to help students tackle the challenges of plastics waste

Plastics waste presents a major challenge for humanity. There are many innovative people taking impactful action to address this issue, but their efforts are often on a small scale or overlooked, with no good means to scale them to make a significant difference.

Rob Steir wants to change that. Delray Beach, Fla.-based Steir, an environmental entrepreneur and co-founder of the nonprofit Commitments Accelerator for Plastic Pollution, or CAPP, has joined forces with Doug Woodring, founder of the Ocean Recovery Alliance in Hong Kong, to create a program that not only showcases worthwhile plastics waste management projects, but does so by involving key members of the "next generation" – students who are motivated to help save the planet.

The winner and top finalists have the chance not only to win modest cash prizes, but to possibly earn an internship or even a job at one of the programs involved. They educate themselves on the issues involved and can raise their personal profiles by gaining exposure in the media and across various industry platforms.

CAPP – which launched in January 2020 and operates under the auspices of the Ocean Recovery Alliance – hosted the initial project in conjunction with the Indian Plastics Institute and the Goa Institute of Management. A working group met regularly from each organization, and the Chellaram Foundation, a 14-year-old Indian charity, served as the main sponsor and provided the prize money.

As for the initial India competition, 165 teams registered and 16 of those qualified for final judging. After a five-month process, that was whittled down to six finalist teams, who presented via YouTube to a panel of environmental sustainability experts this past March 30.

The judges awarded the grand prize to a four-student team called Nature Nurturers, from the Mumbai-based SIES Graduate School of Technology. That team opted to focus on a Chennai-India-based waste management company called Kabadiwalla Connect, which provides decentralized waste collection and processing solutions for cities. Kabadiwalla Connect, working  within a city's existing waste infrastructure, uses technology to partner with informal waste pickers, to collect and process postconsumer waste in a more efficient, cost-effective and carbon-reducing manner. 

Kabadiwalla Connect currently is active in Indonesia, the Ivory Coast, and in five cities across India, with commercial contracts from major brands such as Danone and Unilever related to plastics collection, recycling and informal integration. 

The judges awarded second place to a team that showcased a model incorporating plastics waste in the sub-base and base layers of roads, and third place to a student team that highlighted a waste-to-fuel company that collects plastics from households and offers a technology process that converts the waste into oil and fuel. The winning team won $1,000, with the runners-up earning $750 and $450, respectively.

To provide an additional benefit of exposure to both the selected projects and the students of the winning teams, those members do a series of interviews of the leaders of these organizations, called CAPP Conversations. 

Winning projects will also have future opportunities to enter a CAPP Accelerator program – to replicate/scale these projects by other stakeholders around the world.

One of the program's initial partners, Sreerupa Sengupta, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Healthcare Management at the Goa Institute of Management, stated afterwards: "The Make the Case competition made a strong case for adopting a sustainable mindset and lifestyle and made it evident how we can reduce and are reducing plastic waste in India and contributing towards achieving several goals of sustainable development such as U.N. SDGs [United Nations Sustainable Development Goals] 3,4,9, 12 and 17."

Meanwhile, Sriman Banerjee, vice president of the Indian Plastics Institute, added, "The event reflects on importance of early engagement with students at universities and appreciation of environmental sustainability. IPI also considers its participation as a great way to introduce students to IPI and we're looking forward to an even better season two as part of the working team."

CAPP hopes to find enough industry and corporate supporters to help underwrite the costs of replicating the Make the Case concept around the world, with multiple annual competitions. The aim is to spur interest in the plastics waste issue among some of the best and brightest young minds, while also helping to shine a light on worthy initiatives that are helping to make a difference in combatting plastics waste.

Another potential benefit involves connecting the stakeholders with interested young professionals around the world who have the energy, the passion and access to the resources required to replicate the best ideas as quickly and as broadly as possible.

To learn more about getting involved, contact Rob Steir at rob@capp.global.