Baranduda’s Grace King wins Wodonga Innovation Program prize | The Border Mail | Wodonga, VIC

Grace King was just 14 when she started her first business. Five years on, the teenager’s latest idea to recycle soft plastics locally has been recognised as the top idea pitched during the Wodonga Youth Innovation Program. It also won the People’s Choice Award. After seeing images of Indonesian villages living among soft-plastics exported from Australia, Miss King, 19, decided there had to be a better way. The Baranduda teenager decided to investigate how to recycle soft plastics locally and took her concept of to the innovation program to learn how to make it a reality. “The idea is to recycle soft plastic waste from our households, council landfill and local businesses and keep everything local: manufacture locally and not have [plastics] travel over to Asia while keeping local jobs,” she said. “Through the program I was able to get connected with people in the plastics recycling industry so I was able to learn about all the different machines and the processes…” IN OTHER NEWS: Miss King, who wants to attain a Bachelor of Sustainability, won $1000 as part of the program to help her bring her idea to life. She will use the money to purchase a household-sized recycling machine so she can learn more about the recycling processed. “I had the idea if the business works on a small scale it is more likely to work on a large scale as well,” she said. Despite her young age, Plastic Products Wodonga is not Miss King’s first foray into entrepreneurship. At 14, Miss King started an equestrian photography business after breaking her shoulder and being sidelined at pony club events. She has also been accepted to take part in the Wodonga Innovation Program’s all-ages Accelerator initiative. Chief operating officer of Delos Delta, William Downing, said the youth project was part of a three-year Wodonga Innovation Program funded by the Victorian Government through Wodonga Council. He said the program was initially going to set up a physical hub where entrepreneurs could meet and share ideas, but due to COVID-19 restrictions had moved online. Mr Downing said innovation provides extra employment opportunities regionally and allows economies to diversify and become more resilient. “The need to adapt, overcome and change constantly is now more evidence than ever with COVID-19,” he said. Mr Downing said the ultimate goal for the program was to create a sustainable network and hub which can continue beyond the three government funded years.