We invited innovators, entrepreneurs, businesses, students and the community to find ways to help eliminate the 800,000 tonnes of waste created within the City of Melbourne boundary every year.
After six weeks of exploring how to use data and technology to reduce waste in our city and make for a more transparent circular economy, the finalists presented their best ideas at the Open Innovation Competition pitch night on Wednesday 19 August, 2020.
Winners were announced on the night with a number of exciting prizes awarded including a share in the $30,000 cash prize pool, entry into the University of Melbourne’s Velocity Program and RMIT’s LaunchHub program, plus a product discovery workshop with creative agency Mo Works.
The international prize winner will have the opportunity to test and adapt their solution for the Indonesian and global market with help from The Greater Hub at Bandung Institute of Technology and the City of Bandung. This program also includes a three-month hot desk membership from Melbourne-based co-working hub, 11th Space.
We also had a very special prize package for the overall winner courtesy of Startup Victoria. This package consisted of a variety of business-related goodies for the winner to use to further develop and grow their startup. From credits and discounts, to mentoring sessions and workshops, this package has an overall value totalling more than $100,000.
Haidar Al-fallouji, Co-founder and CEO, charityBay
charityBay believes in bridging the gap between those who wish they could help, and those who do, the charities. They provide an online marketplace and mobile app, where users can donate items that are converted into cash going to charity, increasing items’ lifespan, reducing hard waste and promoting social equity.
1st place winner
International prize winner
MAP Velocity prize winner
Donny Chien, Chief Anti-Wastage Officer/Co Founder, Y Waste
Y Waste is a social enterprise with a focus on reducing both food insecurity and the negative environmental and economic impacts of food waste. Their app facilitates the discounted sale of end-of-day food from quick-service restaurants to consumers, preventing the food going to landfill.
2nd place winner
Rebecca Scott Co-founder and CEO, STREAT
Crateful is a low-cost, low-tech, low-footprint urban farming system designed to get families growing some of their own fruit and veggies at home. The simple, modular growing system is superpowered by the waste stream of the local food industry, one of the most wasteful industries in the city.
3rd place winner
John Rbeiz, Founder at Boom Containers
Inspired by the 'milkman model' of the 1950s; we're a closed-loop service that allows consumers to borrow reusable, professionally cleaned containers, whenever and wherever they need them — all with a single-click return process.
People’s Choice winner
Syed Minhaj Saleem Kazmi, PhD Civil & Infrastructure Engineering Candidate, RMIT University
RMIT Rubberised Concrete Processing Technology (RRCPT) can turn recycled material, rubberised recycled aggregate concrete, into traditional concrete material. This is achieved by drastically enhancing the material properties of the recycled material through a novel way of concrete casting without the use of additional materials.
RMIT LaunchHub prize winner
Amanda Pacheco Bravo, Master of Design Innovation & Technology Student at RMIT
T’wine is biodegradable sustainable packaging for wine made from the by-products of winemaking. Paired with an urban winery experience and an app, it keeps materials in use, while supporting local wineries and generating jobs. T’wine aims to scale to the rest of Australia and eventually eliminate glass and packaging waste in FMCGs.
RMIT LaunchHub prize winner
Lia Alvarez, Founder, Fair by Nature
Fair by Nature is developing a tool to quantify the total of material that can be extracted from a construction/demolition site, that can re-enter to new constructions, saving cost, time and up to 40% of the CO2 emissions (approx.20 tonnes of CO2 per household).
Marcus Crook, Creative Director & Co-Founder
REBORN by HoMie produces one-off, entirely unique upcycled garments made from secondhand clothing, material scraps from factory floors. Pieces are hand cut, sewn and altered in Melbourne, giving clothing a second life. 100% of profits go towards achieving REBORN and HoMie’s mission, to support young people affected by homelessness or hardship.
Chair of the Environment portfolio, City of Melbourne
CEO, Sustainability Victoria
Director, RMIT Activator
Social Impact Manager, Melbourne Accelerator Program
Managing Director at CivVic Labs
Creative Director at Mo Works
The judges who decided the winner of the international prize are:
Acknowledgement of Traditional Owners
The City of Melbourne respectfully acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land we govern, the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong / Boon Wurrung peoples of the Kulin and pays respect to their Elders past and present. We acknowledge and honour the unbroken spiritual, cultural and political connection they have maintained to this unique place for more than 2000 generations.
We accept the invitation in the Uluru Statement from the Heart and are committed to walking together to build a better future.
