Prince Williamis combining two of his interests, theEarthshot Prizeand sports, into one exciting engagement.
Aftervisiting the Wrexham AFC’s soccer stadiumlast week, the Prince of Wales headed to another sporting venue on Friday. He stepped out at The Kia Oval Cricket Ground in south London for a special reason: to celebrate an Earthshot Prize winner’s latest achievement.
Sustainable packaging startup Notpla, which won theBuild a Waste-Free Worldprize at the second cycle of the global environmental awards that Prince William launched in 2020, has a new multi-million dollar deal with Levy UK + Ireland, part of the Compass Group, to bring its seaweed-based food packaging to over 50 sports and event venues.
The Kia Oval Cricket Ground is one of the venues that will roll out the natural packaging in addition to other well-known hubs including the O2 Arena, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Twickenham Stadium, Principality Stadium in Cardiff and the All England Lawn Tennis Club — home of the Wimbledon Championships, a staple on toKate Middleton’s summer calendar.
Prince William visits the Kia Oval Cricket Ground in London with the Earthshot Prize on March 8, 2024.James Veysey/Shutterstock
James Veysey/Shutterstock
Through the new contract, Levy will use about 75 million Notpla items over the next three years, helping them to meet their ambitious targets to be more climate-friendly. Prince William is understood to have played a pivotal role in supporting the relationship between Notpla and the major caterer, and he spoke to Levy reps when hevisited Notpla’s London headquarterslast year.
Pierre-Yves Paslier of Notpla and Prince William at the Kia Oval Cricket Ground on March 8, 2024.KIN CHEUNG/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
KIN CHEUNG/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Prince William met with Notpla co-founder Pierre Paslier and officials from both The Kia Oval and Levy UK + Ireland. The Prince of Wales heard about how Notpla will be used at the cricket ground and why sustainable products are important at big events. William also peeked behind the scenes to see the packaging in action during a demonstration in the stadium kitchen.
When previously speaking toPEOPLEabout what it meant to win an Earthshot Prize, Paslier described the accolade as a game-changer.
Prince William visits the Kia Oval Cricket Ground on March 8, 2024.KIN CHEUNG/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
“Most importantly, the Earthshot Prize team is offering us some tailored support and will introduce us to a vast network of businesses, philanthropists and investors, that should boost scaling our commercialization,” Paslier told PEOPLE in December 2022.
On success from the Earthshot attention, he added, “The past 24 hours have been an absolute whirlwind, major groups have reached out and so many restaurants up and down the country have been buying our plastic-free takeaway boxes from our website!”
Prince William also toured the cricket ground and met Surrey athletes who are training for the start of the season and ground staff who look after the venue. Though the next match is a month away, the team has created a marquee to mimic the conditions of a summer’s day for training.
In late February, the Prince of Wales announced that he wasspearheading a plan tobuild 24 homes for people experiencing housing difficulties on Duchy land in Cornwall. The pledge fulfills a vow he made in 2023 when he kicked off hisHomewardsproject, a long-term campaign to end homelessness.
Now, the use of Notpla products at the cricket ground connects Earthshot to the Duchy, the latest collaborative partnership between Prince William’s public projects.
Prince William visits the Kia Oval Cricket Ground on March 8, 2024.Samir Hussein/WireImage
Samir Hussein/WireImage
Notpla is a family of regenerative packaging materials, comprised of seaweed and plants, serving as an alternative to single-use plastics to reduce pollution. The Earthshot honor has enabled the London-based business to scale, expand its team and invest in machinery for research and development. Notpla’s products have replaced 7.2 million pieces of single-use plastics from entering the environment to date, and the company has embarked on multiple partnerships since the Earthshot recognition.
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Prince William visits 2022 Earthshot Prize Winner Notpla in May 2023.Kin Cheung-WPA Pool/Getty Images
Prince William will make another related engagement next Monday when he attends a celebration of the Earthshot Prize Launchpad. The new matchmaking platform connects investors and philanthropists to help bring Earthshot solutions to scale, fast-tracking new opportunities for environmental solutions.
source: people.com
