UP student wins gold at global innovation lab

University of Pretoria (UP) student John Oyewole is developing a sustainable alternative to shrink wrap that has already won gold at an international innovation lab in Denmark.

Oyewole, a PhD student in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, was selected as one of seven UP students and one faculty member, Prof Willem Fourie, to take part in the UNLEASH innovation lab last month. UNLEASH was supported by, among others, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Carlsberg Foundation, Dalberg, Microsoft and Deloitte.

UNLEASH supports the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and UP is an institutional partner. The inaugural event hosted 1 000 participants from 129 countries, who were selected through a competitive international call for applications. For UNLEASH 2017, participants were asked to focus on one of seven themes: water, energy, food, education and ICT (information and communication technology), urban sustainability, health, and sustainable consumption and production.

Oyewole’s team was rewarded for their work in the sustainable consumption and production category. Their project, SmartWrapR was also judged to be the solution with the most impact potential.

Shrink wrap is one of the largest hidden pollutants in the world. In the United States, there are over two billion pallets causing one billion pounds of petroleum waste, 95% of which is expected to end up in landfills. SmartWrapR is a reusable smart pallet cover made of a stretchable fabric such as Lycra, which can replace plastic shrink wrap. SmartWrapR can reduce the cost to customers for pallet wrapping from $1,20 to $0,60 per use and reduce environmental impact by 50% in plastic waste, 95% in petroleum use, and 80% in CO₂ emissions. The development team is currently in talks with potential funders before production can begin.

‘UNLEASH was a tremendously enriching experience and I was privileged to take part,’ says Oyewole. ‘We are very proud of our SmartWrapR solution and have begun reaching out to startup funding agencies and companies to invest in our global award-winning solution.’

Jongman Mosimanegape (a post-doctoral fellow in plant pathology), PhD students Casper Kamutando (genetics), Ian Strydom (chemistry), Gideon Bonthuys (civil engineering) and Dolopo Oldaran (food science), and masters student Emmanuel Nekhudzhiga (food science) also formed part of the UP team.

‘UNLEASH did not only establish a network that connects people from different countries, fields and sectors, but also has the potential to create high-impact, scalable solutions. It was a tremendous experience to work across disciplines at this level,’ said Prof Fourie, faculty member in the Faculty of Theology at UP.

Source University of Pretoria