SIXTH form students at a school in Winchester have reached the final of a global sustainability competition beating more than 1,000 teams.

On February 27, the Earth Foundation announced that a group from Winchester College has made it through to the Earth Prize final.

The team, competing under the name Bactoplastics, is one of just 10 teams selected out of 1,290 entrants worldwide.

The pupils are all members of the college's Sustainability Society. Working out of the school’s Biology department the Winchester team is producing a protocol for industrial production of biodegradable plastics, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), from food waste using genetically engineered bacteria.

READ MORE: Winchester College hosts food, farming and sustainability day

Speaking on behalf of his team of four, A-Level pupil Maks Fedorovskyy, said: "We have designed a novel, cost-effective method for their production, which addresses the primary challenges in contemporary industrial PHA production. Our plastic substitutes most petroleum-based plastics for packaging and has potential to reduce plastic waste production by 67 per cent in the UK.

“Our product would reduce pressure on landfills due to its seven-week degradation time, while repurposing up to 1.5m tonnes of food waste annually.

"We are in the laboratory for 20 hours per week, conducting dozens of biochemical experiments to identify optimal conditions for PHA production and food waste pre-treatment. By the end, we hope to set up a continuous bioplastic production system here in Winchester using locally procured food waste."

SEE ALSO: Residents resort to action to petition for lower speed limits and safer cycle routes

The Earth Prize is an annual, global competition, run by Geneva-based The Earth Foundation, focused on environmental sustainability, which rewards the teams whose projects have the most potential to address environmental issues. For the 2023 competition, there were entrants from over 1000 schools across 116 countries and territories around the world.

Earlier in February, the Earth Foundation announced 37 teams as Earth Prize 2023 Scholars, including Bactoplastics and another Winchester College team Veggie for Schools.

In April, the winner will be revealed and awarded $100,000 to be shared between the team members and their school. Three runner-up schools will be awarded $25,000 each.

For more go to winchestercollege.org/stories/earth-prize-finalists.