From Popular Science to Hollywood - how Kelpi made the news this week

Occasionally the stars align and something amazing happens. The star in this case is fashion designer and Hollywood film director Tom Ford whose alignment with ocean health non-profit Lonely Whale has brought about the TOM FORD Plastic Innovation Prize. And so it was no surprise this week that the world’s press took notice, when the eight finalists in the $1.2m prize competition.

So our lab in Bath is now filling up with press cuttings from around the world. It can’t be often that PhD scientists make it into The Hollywood Reporter. But that’s where Stef and Ed found themselves pictured next to Tom Ford.

One of the world’s leading fashion magazines, Vogue, is talking about us – perhaps not for our sartorial elegance (although there is something quite alluring about lab coats).

Coverage of the announcement of finalists spanned the globe, and with it a broad spectrum of publications from Fashion Week Daily and V Magazine to Popular Science and Bioplastic News. Kelpi is proud to be featured alongside the other finalists from the UK to the US, Canada to Kenya, Iceland to India.  

Leading environmental activists and fashion leaders including Stella McCartney, Trudie Styler, Don Cheadle, Susan Rockefeller and Livia Firth know our name. They’re just some of the eminent judges of the TOM FORD Plastic Innovation Prize. And two-time world champion surfer John John Florence, no less, voiced a video about how he was happy to see Kelpi as a finalist.

“I am in awe of Tom,” Livia Firth told The Hollywood Reporter, “for starting this incredible unparalleled competition as it is the only global competition focused on creating scalable solutions and biologically degradable alternatives to thin-film plastic polybags, which make up 46% of all plastic pollution annually. To support these finalists at the forefront of sustainable material development, reach scale and market adoption by 2025 is extraordinary and something I am so proud of being part of.“

Stars don’t align because of luck but because of science.  And it’s Kelpi’s brilliant science that has got us to the finals such a prestigious competition. And the vision and sheer hard work of the whole Kelpi team.  

The ancients looked to the stars for guidance and answers. We look to the seas. Tom Ford and all our supporters are helping to make this happen.

“What we accomplish together through this competition will catalyze global change across continents, countries and industries, urgently needed to address plastic pollution,” said Ford. “If the ocean is polluted and in danger, then so is the planet, and so are we. The impact these brilliant minds and their creations will have on our planet is monumental, bringing us their innovative solutions to making the environment a safer place for generations to come. I am pleased to announce the finalists, whom we celebrate today for their exceptional alternatives to thin-film plastic polybags:”

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Kelpi wins through to final of global bioplastic innovation competition