Loop Recyclers Tech from Nigeria came third in the Commonwealth-wide ideas competition to find innovative solutions to ocean and climate challenges using the power of satellites.
Environment advocate Dr Collins Akumabor, who is the founder of Loop Recyclers Tech, in his presentation at the Hack The Planet Competition 2021, said the concept is to use geospatial data to monitor and improve recycling rates for plastics, preventing them from reaching rivers and the ocean.
British creators of Plastic-i – a powerful tool for mapping ocean plastics with earth-observing satellites – won the competition.
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Plastic-i is an idea to help tackle marine pollution by combining satellite data with machine learning to create an open-source map of floating pollution, updated daily.
Dr James Doherty, Dr Lauren Bierman, Michael Lawton and Dr Jonal Hill developed the cutting-edge concept as a collaboration between OXLABS and Plymouth Marine Laboratory.
It topped five other exceptional finalists during a live pitch event held yesterday to find the most impactful and scalable idea that uses satellite technologies to solve ocean challenges.
Lucy Edge, Chief Operating Officer, Satellite Applications Catapult said: “From the spark of an idea two years ago, we are delighted to today be announcing our first ever winners of the Hack the Planet competition. It has been a remarkable journey; from over 80 entries, two months of intensive training and mentoring, to the final six teams taking part in the final today, the commitment shown by the entrants has been inspirational. We look forward to following the journey of Plastic-i, as they take their ideas forward and we stand ready to support all the finalists to turn their ideas into a reality.”
Terangi Team from Malaysia won second place for their pitch to create a technology platform to monitor environmental elements such as climate change and water quality, while analysing potential threats.
The three winners will share a prize pool of £20,000 plus over £85,000 in satellite data and cloud computing services, according to a statement issued by Josephine Latu-Sanft, Senior Communications Officer of the Commonwealth Secretariat.
Hack the Planet is an entirely virtual international ideas competition that brings together concepts from diverse communities living on the front-line in facing the challenges of the climate emergency and ocean sustainability across the Commonwealth, together with the technical resources to support the innovation of new solutions.
The distinguished panel of judges that selected the winners included: Chris Gorell Barnes, Founding Partner, Ocean 14 Capital and Co-Founder of Blue Marine Foundation; Angelique Pouponneau, CEO, Seychelles Conservation and Climate Adaptation Trust; Andrew Zolli, VP for Sustainability and Impact at Planet; Angelique Brathwaite, Co-Founder of Blue Finance; Phil Cooper, Aerospace and Satellite Solutions, Regional Manager EMEA at Amazon Web Services; and Laura Benns, Director of Programmes at Second Muse.