He was chosen from among more than 550 candidates to participate in the contests in this year.
The award recognized his promising work in the field of circular economy and towards the implementation of one of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the pulp and paper industry is one of the largest industrial sectors in the world, and it has a huge impact on the planet's forests. This sector consumes 13-15% of total wood and uses 33-40% of all industrial wood sold in the world.
Illustrative photo: European Inventor Award
Cutting down trees has a significant impact on climate change. As a result, air pollution and flood control costs increase, biodiversity is lost and the water cycle is disrupted. Global warming also leads to soil erosion and reduced availability of fresh water.
In 2021, Valentyn Frechka founded the company Releaf Paper, which receives leaves from city councils and uses them to produce biodegradable and recyclable paper products.
Inventor Valentyn Frechka. Photo: European Inventor Award
The technology allows convenient and cost-effective waste management in cities, saves trees, avoids greenhouse gas emissions and offers an environmentally friendly alternative to packaging. Releaf Paper can produce 1 ton of pulp from 2,3 tons of fallen leaves. Otherwise, 17 trees would have to be cut down to produce that much pulp.
The Ukrainian became one of the three finalists of this year's European Inventor Award, which honors outstanding inventors under the age of 30. The second finalist is the Tunisian inventors Hawla bin Ahmed, Ghofran Yaari, Sulaima Ben Temime and Sirin Ayar, who developed a "smart" solution for controlling a wheelchair so that people with disabilities can move independently.
See also:
Ukrainian startup Releaf Paper is preparing to launch a plant in France
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