Hello everyone! Today, I would like to talk about one of the youngest entrepreneurs, Miranda Wang, who tries to solve the problem of plastic accumulation by using molecular biological techniques to turn plastic wastes into fish food.

Caption: Miranda Wang (left) and Jeanny Yao (right)- cofounders of BioCellection

Source:https://mission-blue.org/2019/07/a-solution-to-the-plastic-pollution-problem-with-miranda-wang-2019-rolex-awards-for-enterprise-laureate/

Since she shares deep concerns in plastics pollution, her desire to find ways to solve this problem has developed when she was in high school. With a unique opportunity to conduct a research project with Professor Lindsay Eltis at the University of British Columbia, Miranda Wang and Jeanny Yao were invited to speak about their project at TED [1].

She then continued her studies at UPenn, majoring in molecular biology and continuing her research. In 2016, she and Jeanny Yao co-founded their own start-up, BioCellection, that uses bacteria and biotechnology to create fish food from plastic wastes, especially targeting non-degradable ones. In 2016, their startup has won the Perlman Grand Prize in the Wharton Business Plan Competition, granted with $30,000 towards their project [2]. 

With her meaningful contributions and aspirations in trying to break down previously non recyclable wastes to turn not only into fish food, but also into other meaningful materials, such as steering wheel and the interior of cars, Miranda Wang become one of the UN Environment Programme's Young Champions of the Earth award in 2018 [2]. Recently, she has also been named a Laureate of the ROLEX Awards for Enterprise.

Besides all of her accomplishments, this journey of research, innovation and development has just began. The applications of this technology and the opportunities are vast, and they have now decided to work on a demonstrating unit, allowing them to take their project out of the laboratory and into the realm of engineering in the real world [3].

Lastly, I want to share something she mentioned in a recent interview; she discussed about a common misconception. At present, many people are aware that a lot of materials made from plastics that are non-degradable which are ‘bad’ for the environment; and if they start to use biodegradable ones, this problem can be solved. Miranda Wang asserts that she does not recommend using biodegradable plastics, “because the plastics that are certified compostable today aren’t actually compostable. They’re only compostable in industrial compostable facilities, which heat the plastics to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, and if the plastics aren’t heated to that temperature, the biodegradable ones don’t even break down.”[3] I think it is important that we realize that this problem of plastics pollution will not be solved if we switched from non-biodegradable to biodegradable plastics; this is a problem deeply ingrained in our style of living and in our society. The only effective solution at this point is probably a shift to less plastic-reliant lifestyle, and contribute more in this combat against plastics pollution.

References:

1. “Biotech Innovation That Breaks Down Plastic and Feeds the Fish.” The Wharton School, The University of Pennsylvania , Knowledge@Wharton High School, 8 Mar. 2017, kwhs.wharton.upenn.edu/2016/03/biotech-innovation-that-breaks-down-plastic-and-feeds-the-fish/.

2. “Miranda Wang.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Nov. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miranda_Wang.

3. “A Solution to the Plastic Pollution Problem with Miranda Wang, 2019 ROLEX Awards for Enterprise Laureate.” Mission Blue, Mission Blue, 17 July 2019, mission-blue.org/2019/07/a-solution-to-the-plastic-pollution-problem-with-miranda-wang-2019-rolex-awards-for-enterprise-laureate/.