Every second in Europe and the United States alone, 14 golf balls are lost around the greens and will take hundreds of years to degrade. Faced with this observation, four students from UniLaSalle, an engineering school specializing in the environment, in Mont-Saint-Aignan (Seine-Maritime), decided to create a "biodegraball" capable of melting into nature in less 10 years.
An idea caught in the ponds bordering one of the neighboring golf courses, where Louis Roussel and Adrien Morin spent their adolescence recovering balls to resell them used. "We didn't really have to have the right, but it paid us for our vacation," smiled the first.
A first prototype manufactured
Supported by their teachers, the four budding engineers used the resources of their establishment to create a first prototype, the same diameter and the same weight as an approved ball, capable of withstanding the shock of the heaviest clubs. "Today, we are continuing our research, in particular on bio-based materials which we could use to have the same rendering in terms of sensations", continues Pierre Delannée.
Norman winner of the first edition of the Agreen Start-up competition, they will defend their luck at national level in 2020, hoping to interest new partners. And once their diploma in hand, they intend to perpetuate their project, which has already been talked about in the local press. “After the article, we had some contacts. A network of around fifty golf courses already wanted to buy them from us, ”says Louis. "We asked them for a little patience, but it proves the full potential of this idea."
Le Parisien, partner of the consultation "How to act together now for the environment?" ”, Initiated by Make.org, invites you to vote on the proposals made by Internet users in the module below. You will be informed of the results in February.