Global challenge invites students and professionals to generate ideas on how to leverage AI to drive circularity in the plastics industry.
EL CERRITO, CA / ACCESS Newswire / July 10, 2025 / Net Impact has announced the winners of the 2025 Circular Plastics Challenge, established in 2022 in partnership with Hillenbrand, Inc., and The Coca-Cola Company, to promote sustainability within the plastics value chain and encourage ideas from next-generation innovators on ways to help keep plastics in the economy and out of the environment.
In its third year, participants were tasked with designing business concepts that would leverage artificial intelligence (AI) throughout any point across the plastics value chain to drive material circularity. "With the rapid surge in AI innovation, it's critical that future business leaders are equipped with the skills and knowledge to harness AI effectively and responsibly in shaping tomorrow's organizations," Program Manager Hilary Manzo said. The Challenge generated 53 applications from 11 countries, including Indonesia, Kenya, and France. The top five teams shared highly innovative solutions.
The 2025 Circular Plastics Challenge winners include the following early-stage business concepts listed in first, second, and third place:
1st place: Polysorter integrates three cutting-edge technologies: AI-powered scanning, robotic sorting arms, and ultrasonic cleaning. Polysorter is designed to be integrated into the advanced sorting process of recycling, positioned between initial material separation and final quality control. By replacing traditional sorting technologies, Polysorter ensures higher sorting accuracy, reduced contamination, and an increase in the volume of high-quality Post-Consumer Resin (PCR) available for use in manufacturing. The team is led by James Wang, Nuria Escriva Garcia, Kipp Joseph Sande, and Stephen Gregory Kostka from the University of California, Berkeley.
2nd Place: Voices of Change is an initiative that aims to utilize AI-powered waste management systems to revolutionize plastic recycling and preserve the Manguo Wetlands in Kenya. At wetland sites, smart bins equipped with machine learning and image recognition will identify, sort, and log plastic waste in real time, minimizing contamination and improving efficiency. This system is designed to recover high-value materials for reuse and feed data into a digital platform that tracks recovery rates, waste hotspots, and bin fill levels-optimizing collection routes and reducing carbon emissions. The team is led by Tex Wambui, Gabriel Martinez, and Hussein Waiaki.
3rd Place: LooPlast is a digital platform that brings together materials recovery facilities (MRFs), recyclers, and consumer brands to create a transparent and efficient recycling economy, transforming the currently fragmented system into an interconnected, data-driven ecosystem. This platform provides a dynamic pricing model, ESG traceability, municipality-level transparency, and open data access for academia. This data, processed through the AI robots in MRFs, is then integrated into a centralized Data Management Center. Integrating the real-time supply data from the Data Management Center and demand information from companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsi, based on their production forecasts, will provide an intelligent pricing model that fills a huge market gap. The team is led by Gaurav Kumar, Warren LaForest, and Elizabeth Bradshaw from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Haslam College of Business.
Honorable Mention: Eckeka is an AI-powered tool that aims to deliver value throughout the entire plastic value chain pre-, during- and post- consumer. The tool enables businesses to track their plastic footprint and predict the financial and environmental costs of different plastic packaging. It supports the consumer with reward programs for responsible plastic disposal and supports the post-consumer use through empowering informal waste-pickers to access verified buyers and fair pricing. Eckeka is led by Janerose Gatobu and Enoch Kambale and is based in Kenya.
Honorable Mention: ReVera is an accreditation and data analytics platform designed as a centralized intelligence hub for improving circularity and operational efficiency throughout the plastics value chain. By leveraging AI, blockchain-based certification, and real-time data analytics, ReVera connects recyclers, manufacturers, and retailers to create a more transparent and reliable PCR market. The team is led by Maggie Moellering, Emily Krantz, Nicole Mammano, and Naomi Stern from Presidio Graduate School in San Anselmo, California.
Each team presented their ideas during a virtual showcase on June 11, 2025. The judging panel, which included leaders from Hillenbrand, Coca-Cola, and The Society for Plastics Engineers (SPE), determined the winners during the event. The first-place team is awarded $5,000, with $2,500 and $1,000 going to the second- and third-place teams, respectively.
In 2022, Hillenbrand joined forces with Net Impact, a global nonprofit organization that mobilizes next-generation leaders to use their skills and careers to make a positive impact on the world. With a shared goal to find ways to build a more just and sustainable world, Hillenbrand and Net Impact launched the inaugural Circular Plastics Challenge in 2023 with additional support from The Coca-Cola Company. Hillenbrand and Coca-Cola guide the topic of the competition, and Net Impact facilitates the competition by bringing together its global network of social impact and sustainability leaders to address the challenge.
"This initiative continues to resonate with our network of up-and-coming business leaders," said Karen Johns, CEO of Net Impact. "It gives them the chance to tackle an actual corporate sustainability challenge and apply their classroom knowledge in a practical setting. Our collaboration with Hillenbrand and The Coca-Cola Company exemplifies how companies and nonprofits can join forces to empower future leaders, inspire the next generation, and deliver meaningful hands-on learning experiences that prepare a diverse workforce for the future."
For more information regarding the Challenge, visit netimpact.org/programs/circular-plastics-challenge.
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About Net Impact
One of the largest and oldest global member organizations, Net Impact is committed to using business as a force for good and building the capacity of the future workforce. Engaging over 50,000 students and professionals annually through almost 300 chapters in over 40 countries, Net Impact's members are focused on impactful careers across diverse industries including business, sustainability and social impact fields. Net Impact engages its global chapter community in experiential education-focused programming, convenings, civic and community engagement projects. Visit www.netimpact.org.
CONTACT
Net Impact
Hilary Manzo, Associate Director of Programs
Phone: 415-495-4230 x369
Email: hmanzo@netimpact.org
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SOURCE: Net Impact
View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire:
https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/business-and-professional-services/net-impact-announces-winners-of-the-2025-circular-plastics-chall-1047665
