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Two teams from Malaysia had been shortlisted for IET Global Challenge 2018/19.

Organized in partnership with Greenpeace and GreenSeas, the IET Global Challenge is a competition for 18 to 35-year-olds to develop an innovative solution to tackle the problem of plastic waste in the oceans.

The Greenpeace challenge required participants to propose a practical way to reduce overall use of packaging, eliminate single-use plastic packaging by 2025, and introduce more reusable packaging formats. Meanwhile, to qualify into the GreenSeas challenge, participants should create a remotely-controlled all-terrain machine that is capable of moving up and down the beach for a reasonable amount of time, picking up cigarette butts from the surface of the sand and collecting them in a chamber or hopper.

The Malaysian teams, namely Team Kaboom and Team NanoMalaysia, are amongst the four Greenpeace Challenge finalists. The other two shortlisted teams in the challenge are Team Leeds and Team Stagnate or Innovate.

Team Kaboom proposes a system involving liquid-product dispensing machines, which aims to eliminate single-use plastic bottles and packaging. In their plan, plastic bottle is replaced with a refill tank to market shampoo product. By implementing the solution, customers will no longer see any shampoo, or other liquid products, being sold in single-use plastic bottles in the supermarket. Instead, customers must bring their own reusable bottle to the supermarket to be refilled, should they require any liquid product. The solution is also a boon in eliminating the usage of wrapping plastics and carton boxes, which would otherwise be necessary especially during transportation.

On the other hand, Team NanoMalaysia introduces a new packing solution which removes the need for plastic bags for dried grains in supermarket. The idea is to pack beans/grains in “blocks” by glueing them together and coating them with a protective layer. Each block will contain enough bean/grains for a single food portion, and the size of the blocks can be customized by the manufacturer. To implement the solution, the team is developing a polysaccharide-based edible material that is high in mechanical strength, and soluble only in hot water. The team’s innovation is not limited to grains and beans, but also other high-demand dried food, such as pasta and dried seafood. This implementation is made possible with advancement of technology capability in material science and nanotechnology.

Each team will now prepare an elevator pitch for round two, to be judged in August. The winner will be invited to the IET Innovation Awards on 13 November, at The Brewery, London.