23 Feb 2021
Robots that can sort e-waste ready for recycling and 100% biodegradable food storage inspired by bananas are just two of the award-winning ideas from the inaugural India-Australia Circular Economy (I-ACE) Hackathon held this month, hosted by Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, and NITI Aayog Atal Innovation Mission (AIM).
Almost 80 teams of students and small and medium businesses from India and Australia turned their collective minds to solving the world’s global challenges with a focus on stopping waste and creating sustainable business practices.
The concept of the I-ACE Hackathon originated last year at a virtual summit where the Prime Ministers of both countries committed to working together on circular economy innovation initiatives.
Honourable Prime Minister of India Shri. Narendra Modi expressed his words of appreciation to the young innovators.
"All participants of this circular economy hackathon are winners and commend your spirit to innovate in this times of COVID 19. We are not the owners of all that mother earth has to offer, but merely its trustees for all the future generations to come," Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi stated.
We [India and Australia] must explore ways to scale up innovative ideas and must look at consumption patterns and reduce ecological impact, not only in two countries but for the whole world. Recycling, reusing, eliminating waste and improving resource efficiency should become part of our lifestyle. The Power of youth comes from openness to new ideas, innovation and ability to take risk. The strong India and Australia relationship will play an important role in shaping the post covid world."
Teams of Australia and India’s brightest students and most innovative start-ups targeted problems such as reducing packaging waste, avoiding waste in food supply chains, reducing plastics waste, and recycling critical energy metals and e-waste.
CSIRO Chief Executive Dr Larry Marshall congratulated all the innovative participants.
"CSIRO has a long history of collaboration and partnership with India on science and research, and we’re excited to be working together on achieving a zero-waste economy," Dr Marshall said.
"This is a big issue for the sustainability of our two countries, and indeed humanity, but it is a wickedly complex problem, and it will take many minds working together to solve.
"We believe industry and environment can be partners, instead of competitors, and we believe sustainability can be profitable – delivering economic returns and jobs, while also protecting our environment."
Mission Director and Additional Secretary, Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog Mr. R. Ramanan thanked all the participants, organizers and others involved in the event.
"The IACE Circular Economy Hackathon is a splendid example of innovation collaboration between India and Australia resulting from the commitments of Honourable Prime Ministers of Australia and India for responsible production and consumption in the virtual summit last year,” Mr. R. Ramanan said.
“Atal Innovation Mission is proud to have partnered with CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, in the launch and execution of the same resulting in some incredibly exciting ideas / innovations from the student and startup community of both the nations."
Four student teams and four SME teams each from Australia and India were awarded across the four themes. The winning teams are:
Australia:
India:
I-ACE is generously supported by the Australian Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources (DISER), AIM Atal Incubation Centre network, and various domain experts.
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