Marcos' seaweed-based alternative to plastic.
Marcos, who is originally from Argentina, recently won a Young Innovator’s Award for his invention.
The Young Innovator’s Award recognises young people from across the UK who have the potential to become successful entrepreneurs and future leaders in innovation. Each winner receives £5,000, one-on-one business coaching and an allowance for living costs.
Marcos' invention is a new pliable material made from seaweed, which is home-compostable, water-soluble and can replace plastic packaging. Marcos hopes that this product will be used in the cosmetic, 3D-printing and food wrapping industries. He said: “Seaweed plastic has several advantages when compared with what is out there in the market. Seaweed is one of the most efficient organisms, it does not use freshwater or fertilizers, and it uses no land."
“Seaweed farms are not only sustainably growing seaweed but in fact, are helping to clean the ocean from acidification. Our plastic will be biodegradable and compostable. The combination of these two characteristics makes it much better than fossil fuel plastics and traditional bioplastics, made out of resources that require land, pesticides and fertilizers.”
Reflecting on his time at Queen Mary, Marcos considers the sense of entrepreneurship to be one of the most memorable things about the university. He played a role in setting up the Queen Mary Social Venture Fund, the first student-led social impact venture capital fund in the UK, under the guidance of entrepreneurship lecturer Dr Joanne Zhang.
Marcos said: “When we were setting up the Social Venture Fund, I started understanding how entrepreneurship societies worked within the different universities in London. It was during this time that I realised the importance of universities in the UK’s entrepreneurship ecosystem. Stefan Krummaker and Joanne Zhang were both great professors, influencing my leadership and innovation development during my time at Queen Mary.”
“Queen Mary was a door to opportunities for us to take. What I loved most was how approachable the professors were when dealing with a new project. During my masters, I learned to take the step, tell people my story and show them how they could help me. I believe this is crucial when starting something, and Queen Mary provided me with the opportunity to do so.”