Innovative solutions aimed at food insecurity, waste, pollution and resource conservation are topping the five projects from student teams worldwide that have been selected for the Wege Prize 2024 finalist awards presentations in May.

As Earth Day 2024 spotlights ways to eliminate plastics, the Wege Prize is shining a spotlight on its innovative student teams that have created real-world solutions recently.

Turning India’s vast banana waste into an eco-friendly leather alternative has paid off for a team of enterprising students. Solving problems of waste and limited resources, the group is among three student teams from five countries and six universities sharing $65,000 for their big green ideas winning the 2023 Wege Prize.

A shortlist of 15 sustainability innovations announced for Wege Prize ’23 offer real-world solutions to pressing challenges such as plastics pollution, hunger and agricultural waste, as they also open bright horizons for the future circular economy.