Young Inventors Prize 2025: France's Marie Perrin Wins for Breakthrough in Rare Earth Recycling
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All under 30, they aim to change the world. Four of the ten finalists received awards on June 18 in Reykjavik, Iceland. Their technologies tackle some of the most pressing challenges of our time.
What were you up to when you were 25? These young inventors are developing solutions that could soon transform our daily lives — extending the shelf life of fresh fruit, recycling rare earth elements, and turning CO₂ into clothing. The Young Inventors Prize, awarded by the European Patent Office, rewards innovators under the age of 30 who are using technology to respond to major global challenges, in line with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 2025 edition, broadcast live worldwide, featured ten finalists selected from 450 applicants.
Three of them were awarded prizes by a jury of former winners, and a fourth, the People's Choice Award, received a prize of 15,000 euros – in addition to the 5,000 euros awarded to each finalist.
À lire aussi At the Arab World Institute: Gaza's Rescued Treasures, Witnesses to a Deep History
Among the winners was Marie Perrin, distinguished in the 'World Builders' category. The French-American chemist is tackling one of today's critical geopolitical challenges: the recycling of rare earths. Essential to modern technologies (from…
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Le Figaro
5 days ago
- Le Figaro
Young Inventors Prize 2025: France's Marie Perrin Wins for Breakthrough in Rare Earth Recycling
Réservé aux abonnés All under 30, they aim to change the world. Four of the ten finalists received awards on June 18 in Reykjavik, Iceland. Their technologies tackle some of the most pressing challenges of our time. What were you up to when you were 25? These young inventors are developing solutions that could soon transform our daily lives — extending the shelf life of fresh fruit, recycling rare earth elements, and turning CO₂ into clothing. The Young Inventors Prize, awarded by the European Patent Office, rewards innovators under the age of 30 who are using technology to respond to major global challenges, in line with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 2025 edition, broadcast live worldwide, featured ten finalists selected from 450 applicants. Three of them were awarded prizes by a jury of former winners, and a fourth, the People's Choice Award, received a prize of 15,000 euros – in addition to the 5,000 euros awarded to each finalist. À lire aussi At the Arab World Institute: Gaza's Rescued Treasures, Witnesses to a Deep History Among the winners was Marie Perrin, distinguished in the 'World Builders' category. The French-American chemist is tackling one of today's critical geopolitical challenges: the recycling of rare earths. Essential to modern technologies (from…
Euronews
6 days ago
- Euronews
Sustainable technology innovations awarded at Young Inventors Prize
Ten young inventors have been awarded for developing technologies that advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, with top honours awarded for innovations in rare earth recycling, food preservation, and carbon capture. At a ceremony held in Reykjavík, Iceland, the European Patent Office (EPO) announced the winners of the 2025 Young Inventors Prize special prizes. This year's selected inventors, called 'Tomorrow Shapers,' were selected from more than 450 international applicants, all of whom were aged 30 and under. While ten inventors or teams received recognition from the EPO for their technologies, three received special awards — World Builders, Community Healers, and Nature Guardians — and one was selected as the People's Choice through an online public vote. Euronews spoke to the winners of the special prizes about their inventions. Capturing carbon emissions and redefining fashion The Nature Guardians prize went to US scientists and twin sisters Neeka and Leila Mashouf, whose invention converts carbon dioxide into cellulose-based fibres — offering a sustainable alternative to conventional textiles. The textile industry is responsible for 8% of CO2 emissions worldwide. Their company, Rubi, uses a proprietary enzymatic process that mimics the natural way trees absorb CO2 but without the land or water demands of harvesting forests or growing cotton. "A tree breathes CO2. It starts as a seed and is able to use this carbon to grow its trunk, branches and leaves. We essentially mimic this process, taking carbon and making these essential materials — but without the need to cut down trees," Neeka Mashouf told Euronews. Biodegradable sachet to combat food waste The Community Healers award went to Ugandan entrepreneurs Sandra Namboozo and Samuel Muyita, who developed a biodegradable sachet that extends the shelf life of fruit. Food waste is responsible for 10% of CO2 emissions, according to the FAO. Drawing from their backgrounds in farming communities, the two developed a sachet made from plant-based compounds that slows the ripening of fruit, extending shelf life by up to 30 days. "Karpolax is essentially a sachet that we place in fruit crates during storage or delivery. It releases an active substance that inhibits the phospholipase D enzyme responsible for the senescence or deterioration of fruit membranes," Namboozo told Euronews. Recycling rare earths Marie Perrin, a French-US chemist, won the World Builders prize for developing a process for recycling the rare earths found in electronic waste. Rare earths are a family of 17 elements on the periodic table, such as neodymium and europium, which are used to build our telephones and computers, as well as wind turbines and electric cars. China has achieved a virtual monopoly in the exploitation and production of rare earths. Perrin's innovation, a novel process to recover the rare earth element europium from discarded fluorescent lamps, eliminates the environmental damage typically caused by traditional mining. "Their production through mining poses major geopolitical and environmental problems. So recycling is something of a magic bullet, both in terms of geopolitics and environmental impact", Perrin told Euronews. Smart food label The People's Choice prize went to a team of Spanish researchers — Pilar Granado, Pablo Sosa Domínguez and Luis Chimeno The trio developed a biodegradable label to place on food that changes colour when it comes into contact with bacteria. It can be used to indicate in real time whether a food item has expired, thereby preventing food poisoning and wastage. Their innovation is already on the market and could help reduce Europe's staggering 59 million tonnes of food waste annually. Chimeno described the win as "a recognition of our path," noting that it affirmed the team's belief in the power of everyday solutions.
Local France
20-06-2025
- Local France
Climate change could double summer rainfall in the Alps: study
Researchers said that in a scenario where temperatures rise by two degrees Celsius (about 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), the Alps and nearby regions could experience episodes of intense summer rainfall twice as often as currently. "With such warming, an intense storm currently expected once every 50 years could occur once every 25 years in the future," said the Swiss university, which conducted the study in collaboration with the University of Padua in Italy. "Hot air holds more moisture (around seven percent more per degree), intensifying storm activity", the researchers said. "As the Alpine environment warms faster than the global average, it is particularly affected," they added. The study used summer rainfall data collected from nearly 300 meteorological stations across the European Alps in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France and Italy. They focused on record-breaking rainfall events -- lasting from 10 minutes to an hour -- that occurred between 1991 and 2020, as well as the temperatures associated with these episodes. "The sudden and massive arrival of large volumes of water can exceed the soil's absorption capacity," which can "trigger flash floods and debris flows, causing damage to infrastructure", said Nadav Peleg, a researcher at UNIL and the study's lead author. Researchers recommend "preparing urban water management systems and other infrastructures" that are ill suited to handle significant rainfall volumes. Advertisement "Promptly updating engineering and urban planning standards" would help mitigate potential risks associated with these events, they added, while also emphasising the need to "limit global warming to 1.5C or less above current levels". According to scientists from the United Nations' IPCC panel on climate change, there is a 50 percent chance of global temperatures rising by an average of 1.5C by 2030-2035. "We are already observing a trend towards intensified summer storms and this trend is expected to worsen in the coming years," said Francesco Marra, a researcher at the University of Padova and a co-author of the study.
