Connect with us

Subscribe

Photo by Andrea De Santis on Unsplash

circular

Students worldwide battle it out for $65k circular economy prize

The 15 semifinalists have been announced in the 2025 international ‘Wege Prize’ design competition where college and university students worldwide pitch ideas for accelerating the shift to a circular economy.

With a cash prize of $65,000 up for grabs, the Wege Prize by Ferris State University’s Kendall College of Art and Design (KCAD), has named semifinalists from 10 different nations, across Europe, Asia, Africa, and Central America.

“It’s exciting to see students from around the world step up each year by working together to co-create solutions that support a circular economy,” says Gayle DeBruyn, KCAD professor and Wege Prize leader. “The regenerative cycle of their real-world solutions is helping us move away from a linear economy’s take, make and dispose of practices.”

Here are the 15:

  • Agpress is integrating mealworm farming with maize flour production to create protein-enriched flour to abate malnutrition, including repurposing agricultural waste into compost.
  • AquaCycle is creating a sustainable fish farming system from agricultural waste, including using fishpond wastewater enriched with nutrients to fertilize crops.
  • Aquafert Solutions is leveraging fishery wastewater as a nutrient-rich fertilizer for cultivation.
  • Backyard Acres is creating a recirculation system that simplifies poultry waste management and the production of alternative protein using black soldier fly larvae to ease food insecurity.
  • Dry Fresh Solution is developing a solar-powered dehydrator that extends the shelf life of fruit and vegetables by removing moisture through indirect heating, reducing post-harvest losses.
  • Eco Nasi is developing a novel technology that converts pineapple pulp waste into a premium high-performance leather alternative that is five times more durable than conventional leather.
  • EcoBriquettes Solutions is transforming agricultural waste into eco-friendly charcoal briquettes, providing a sustainable alternative to traditional fuels.
  • EcoValue Creators is developing a pineapple snack processing solution using advanced dehydration technology to address post-harvest losses.
  • EcoWise is creating a closed-loop system to reduce malnutrition by raising poultry and cultivating crops, including transforming filtered gray water for irrigation and organic waste into crop fertilizer.
  • Envirovex is implementing bio-based wastewater treatment technologies to take on sources of antibiotic release from agriculture, livestock, pharmaceutical, and wastewater discharge.
  • FarmGuard Innovators is repurposing cassava peel waste into bioplastic for use as grocery and seedling sacks, with the byproduct of the starch refined into nutrient-rich animal feed.
  • PREWO is creating wood composite materials from plastic and timber waste by combining low- and high-density polyethylene plastics with sawdust or wood residue, producing durable, water-resistant composites suitable for flooring, furniture, and construction panels.
  • Rethread Africa is converting sugarcane bagasse into a biodegradable alternative to traditional plasticsynthetics that decomposes in natural environments.
  • TerraMoist is transforming agricultural waste like banana peels, potato peels, and maize stalks into biohydrogels that help conserve soil moisture by up to 60% more than untreated soils, retaining nutrients and reducing agricultural water waste.
  • VertiCrop Pioneers is developing a vertical farming solution that leverages upcycled materials and circular economy principles to sustainably grow nutrient-rich crops like spinach, amaranth, and carrots.

The winners will be announced soon – and you can sign up for our newsletter to get all the results.

Newsletter Signup

Written By

Susan is the co-founder of Innovators Magazine and a consultant for OnePoint5Media. Susan is also a member of the UNFCCC-led Resilience Frontiers Nexus group and the Chair of the APOPO Foundation UK board.

Advertisement

Weekend read

creativity

Is there an exciting new future in store for robots?

Editor's Picks

New platform for Japanese innovators advancing the Global Goals

Editor's Picks

Win signed new copy of ‘A Child in Berlin’

creativity

Connect
Newsletter Signup