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We’re calling for students and young professionals to help solve the ever-growing issue of plastic pollution, as part of this year’s IET Global Challenge. 5333108eba6b8fbccf7c4c876753f810-huge-gc-blog.jpgWe’ve got a problem


According to Greenpeace, “our oceans are slowly turning into a plastic soup”. Part of the problem is single-use plastic, which on a daily basis we use and throw away. It means huge amounts of plastic, which can take hundreds of years to break down, are entering our oceans.


A large proportion of plastic in our oceans is also due to “improperly disposed of rubbish, careless littering and accidental propagation by winds, drains and floods”, says environmental charity GreenSeas Trust.

 

Cigarette butts, for example, contain a form of plastic known as cellulose acetate. This is recyclable, but is ending up in our oceans as people dispose of cigarettes without thought of the environment.


Besides washing up on our shorelines, marine birds and wildlife can get entangled in plastic or mistake it for food. It is entering the food chain - and we still don’t know the long-term effects of consuming plastic on human health.


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You could engineer an answer

If you’re aged between 18 and 35, you could develop an innovative solution with a team to address this real-world problem. 


We have partnered with Greenpeace and GreenSeas Trust who have set two very different challenges on the topic of plastic pollution, and your team can select ONE to enter. You will be presenting your solution to organisations that have the power and influence to make a real difference. 

Interested? Here’s what you need to know…

Team members can be located anywhere in the world and should be made up of three to four members, at least one of your team needs to be an IET member. 


Use your expertise, skills and creativity to help solve one of the biggest threats to our oceans of all time.

First submission deadline date is 14 March 2019. #IETSaveOurSeas

Together, we can engineer a better future for the world's oceans.


More details on the entry criteria and the choice of challenges are available on our IET Global Challenge website.