[Thematic Report] From Impossible to Possibleby Nitipak Ratapipat | 19-03-2020 02:46 |
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Their success story has really inspired me because it can be shown to the world clearly and courageously that no matter how age you are , even you are still a kid or teenager. You can save this world and create a better environment.
Back to 2011, Miranda Wang & Jeanny Yao who were in high school in Vancouver, Canada. They met each other in the school¡¯s recycling club. One day they had a chance to go on a field trip at Vancouver waste station and was stunned by the gigantic of plastic waste there. They found that not every plastic waste can be recycled. In fact, only 9% of them can be recycled.
On Grade 12, they spent a lot of time for reading academic papers and with the assistance from their mentor Dr. Lindsay Eltis from the University of British Columbia. They discovered that bacteria in Fraser River could eat plastics and finally their research won national science research competition ¡°Sanofi Biogenius Competition¡± in 2012 for an idea with the greatest commercial potential and a year later they was in TED stage to show their discovery.
Photo: James Duncan Davidson
Both continued their dream by studying in scientific field : Jeanny went to Biochemistry and Environment Science, University of Toronto and Miranda went to Molecular Biology & Engineering Entrepreneurship, University of Pennsylvania
BioCellection
In 2015, before finished their undergraduate, they had started BioCellection (Califormia-based startup company) supported by a European venture capital accelerator program called IndieBio (now RebelBio). The company focuses on unrecycled plastic : Polyethylene (PE) (such as single-use plastic bags, clear food wrap, ziplock bags etc.) that are currently no economical technologies to turn these plastics into a valuable product. By coupling synthetic biology and chemistry, the plastic would break down into building blocks, and then converted into other materials for making new products. (e.g. nylon, electrical components) The successful company¡®s innovation make them received many awards as follows :
1. Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award 2018
2. UN Environment Programme's Young Champions of the Earth award 2018
3. Westly Prize ¡°Change Leaders¡± 2018
4. Forbe 30 Under 30 : Social-Entrepreneurs 2019
5. Rolex Awards for Enterprise 2019
and so on
The company now is developing a fully commercial processing plant with a capability of breaking down plastic 5 tons /day. By 2023, it expects to recycle 45,000 tons of plastic, thereby eliminating 320,000 tons of CO2 emissions.
References:
1. Krietsch Boerner, L.(2020, March 8). BioCellection¡¯s Miranda Wang and Jeanny Yao aim to make treasure out of plastic trash.Chemical & Engineering News.
2. RebelBio
https://golden.com/wiki/RebelBio
3. Meet 15 women leading the fight against climate change. (2019, September 12). Time.
https://time.com/5669038/women-climate-change-leaders
4.TIME recognizes Miranda Wang for impact on climate change. (2019, September 21). The Westly Foundation.
https://westly.org/miranda-time
5. Innovation. BioCellection.
https://www.biocellection.com/innovation
6. Plastic eating bacteria invented by students. (2019, September 6). East Coast Daily English.
https://www.eastcoastdaily.in/2019/09/06/plastic-eating-bacteria-invented-by-students.html
7. BioCellection. Forbes.
https://www.forbes.com/profile/biocellection/?list=30under30-social-entrepreneurs#488ab9027d8d
8. Miranda Wang and BioCellection win 2018 Pritzker award for young environmental innovators. (2019, May 20). Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA.
9. Miranda Wang and Jeanny Yao: Biocellection. LAUNCH.
https://www.launch.org/innovators/miranda-wang
10. LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mirandaywwang
11. Zero Waste Plan Draft. (May 2019), City of Mountain View.
https://www.mountainview.gov/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=29514
12. Recycling unrecyclable plastic waste. (2019). Rolex.
https://www.rolex.org/rolex-awards/applied-technology/miranda-wang
13. Miranda Wang wins Rolex award for enterprise. (2019, June 25). Young Champions of the Earth - UN Environment Program.
https://www.unenvironment.org/youngchampions/news/story/miranda-wang-wins-rolex-award-enterprise
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