After learning of the detrimental impact that plastic bags and packaging have on the environment while at the grocery store when she was 11 years of age; now Year 12 student, Angelina Arora committed herself to finding a better solution to single-use plastics so humans could still have their convenience yet still not pollute the Earth. Her vision was to prevent the impact of the wastage of 1.2 trillion tonnes of plastic each year. So, Angelina went on to develop a new toxin-free plastic made out of waste products such as discarded crustacean shells. She found that her creation decomposed 1.5 million times faster than conventional plastics, breaking down completely within 33 days on average.
She now continues to develop this plastic for medical applications, investigate new ways of how cancer could be metastasising and researches the use of algae to remediate oil spills. All of this at just 16 years old.
Angelina has received multiple awards such as a Green Globe as well as multiple scholarships to international universities for her innovative research and in 2018, was the Australian Delegate at the prestigious Intel International Science and Engineering Fair where she received the fourth grand award against 1800 students from over 81 countries.
Not only confining her time to scientific pursuits, Angelina also conducts charity work both nationally and internationally. As a result, she was acknowledged for leadership in social justice by the Hon Dame Marie Bashir for promoting peace and harmony within Australia, was named Young Citizen of the Year 2019 and was the nominee for Young Australian of the Year.
Using her profile and voice, Angelina now empowers young women to follow their passions, especially in male-dominated industries. She believes her generation is the one that will make a difference and discourages silence in the face of injustice amongst young people.