The inventors of a bubble pump designed to catch plastics before they reach the ocean are among the 15 finalists in the running to win a £1m environmental award founded by the Prince of Wales.
The Earthshot Prize is given to innovative ideas for the environment.
Five winners will be announced in Boston next month – each will be given £1m to develop their projects.
Prince William unveiled the shortlist, saying there are “many reasons to be optimistic” about the planet’s future.
He described the people in the shortlist for the prize – now in its second year – as “innovators, leaders and visionaries”.
Prince William said: “They are directing their time, energy, and talent towards bold solutions with the power to not only solve our planet’s greatest environmental challenges, but to create healthier, more prosperous, and more sustainable communities for generations to come.”
The Great Bubble Barrier, from the Netherlands, sees air pumped through a perforated tube to create a curtain of bubbles, which brings plastic up to the surface and into a waste collection system.
For the first time there are also finalists from the UK, including London start-up Notpla Hard Material, which makes packaging from seaweed and plants as an alternative to single-use plastic.
The company has already created a million biodegradable food boxes for online food ordering firm Just East.
Low Carbon Materials, from County Durham, uses unrecyclable plastic waste to make concrete blocks without carbon emissions.
“Until now, construction has been one of the hardest industries to decarbonise,” said Dr Natasha Boulding, co-founder of LCM.
“With LCM, that could all change. We’ve turned concrete net-zero and now we need the world to start using it.”
Other finalists include the City of Amsterdam Circular Economy group, which wants to see nothing wasted and everything recycled in the Netherland’s capital by 2050.
