Designed by student Lucy Hughes, MarinaTex is made of a mixture of "organic fish waste ordinarily destined for landfill or incineration," and locally sourced red algae.
The result is a "translucent and flexible sheet material", which makes it ideal for single-use packaging – like grocery bags and perishable food containers.
With 492,020 tonnes of fish waste produced in the UK annually, MarinaTex could prove to be an eco-friendly and lucrative way of using up by-products that would otherwise be headed straight to the landfill.
Hughes and MarinaTex will now go through to the international round of the competition, for a chance to win £30,000 – as well as £5000 for her university department.
Sources: