Fighting plastic waste at heart of NUS Law social impact competition, with winning solution based on circular economy innovation

Recycling bins are a major step up from the karang guni man: an entity that accepts recyclable waste any time, versus a loner we meet only occasionally to collect said materials (and who actually rarely collects plastic). But when you consider that about 900 million kilograms of plastic waste is discarded in Singapore yearly, how waste management services are struggling to cope with the huge amount of plastic waste, and that the actual recycling rate is dismal due to contamination in recycling bins, it’s not hard to see that there is an urgent need to confront the use and reuse of plastics.

At the second Linklaters Social Impact Competition, this issue was at the heart of a contest that saw students in multi-disciplinary teams coming together to tackle the use of plastics, a multi-faceted problem contributing to the climate crisis and environmental pollution, and which is adversely affecting human health. Last year’s inaugural competition dealt with the issue of corporate greenwashing.

Organised by NUS Law’s Centre for Pro Bono and Clinical Legal Education (CPBCLE) and sponsored by the Linklaters Social Impact Grant, which also sponsors student pro bono activities at NUS Law, the competition saw 14 teams whittled down to eight finalists, with the champion, Team Plastic Waste, pulling ahead with its three-pronged approach centred on circular economy innovation. Each team included at least one NUS Law student—a competition prerequisite—with teammates from other disciplines such as Business, Political Science, Environmental Studies, Economics, Sociology and Medicine. The judging committee included Ms Laure de Panafieu, Partner; Ms Barbara Choi, Counsel; and Mr Seah Kah Teik, Pitching Advisor, from Linklaters Singapore.

Associate Professor Sonita Jeyapathy ’03, Co-Director of CPBCLE, said, “We are thrilled to have partnered Linklaters to develop this platform for our students across NUS, students with the brightest minds and biggest hearts, to come together and create social impact.”

The top three teams were feted at the finale event held on 24 April 2025, with second runner-up, Team EnviroRENT, brainstorming a solution that starts on home ground: the NUS campus. They proposed an automated reusable container rental system designed to reduce the use of single use plastics among NUS students, with a view to this ultimately being rolled out nationwide.

Comprising Jessie Kang, Danielle Kaunang, Tsai Hsin-Ni (Sydney) ’27 and Xue Yi Ling (Elina), the team impressed judges with the strength of their collaboration, with perspectives from the faculties of Law, Science, Business, and Arts and Social Sciences gelling cohesively. Danielle said, “Even though we have different backgrounds, we have the same thoughts on the topic of plastic use. In each of our faculties, this is a very common problem, but often it’s overlooked.” She added that their different backgrounds proved to be advantageous: the cost breakdown and campaign aspects were done by teammates with statistics and communications backgrounds respectively.

The first runner-up, Team Thread Lightly, stood out to judges with their video pitch, which was a component of submissions alongside a written report. Drawing inspiration from investigative programme CNA Insiders, they filmed at multiple locations. Teammates Lew Zhiyi, Li Minghan ’25, Mervyn Lin and Nancy Xu shone a light on the use of polyester, a type of plastic, in clothes. To reduce polyester pollution, they proposed encouraging more producer responsibility through regulation and taxation and, with that taxation, educating and rewarding consumers to drive sustained change.

However, the submission that impressed the judges the most was Team Plastic Waste’s. Identifying the issue as economic, cultural and infrastructural, the two-person team of Lim Yi Shu ’26 and Ang Yuh Xin proposed a three-pronged approach to fight plastic waste—regulating production; reforming consumption including through the use of a mascot, Benny the Bottle; and reinventing recycling. Commenting on how the video pitch was professionally done, Associate Professor Jeyapathy also remarked on their well-thought-out framework of turning existing situations into positions of strength.

Yi Shu elaborated on an experience that inspired her. She said, “When I was visiting friends in Norway last year, I realised that their bottles had 10 cent deposit labels. That really intrigued me.” One of the pillars of their solution emulated this, as they proposed a refundable deposit of 5 to 10 percent when consumers purchase an item in plastic packaging. AI-integrated reverse vending machines to accept such waste can verify recyclability and adapt to new protocol over time to accept a wider range of plastic waste, ensuring cleaner waste streams while rewarding users for plastic disposal.

Commending the finalists for their innovative and interesting entries, Ms de Panafieu even raised the idea of bringing some of the students to the Linklaters office to share their projects. Addressing the students, Miss Choi echoed her sentiments, saying, “We were very impressed by the ingenuity of your ideas, the quality of your videos, as well as the level of research that was undertaken,” as Mr Seah urged the students to continue in their efforts to develop holistic solutions for a more sustainable future.

Congratulations to the winning teams!

Click here to view the videos that the winning teams and finalist teams submitted for the competition.