Students at Memorial University have created a 3D printer capable of using 3D printing filaments made from plastic waste they’re actively recovering from the ocean—and they are being noticed nationally.

Lost fishing gear and water bottles are just some examples of repurposed plastic waste.

The students’ innovation is racking up national award wins including the Scotiabank Climate Change Challenge at the Enactus Canada Regional Exposition and Ocean Startup Project’s inaugural Ocean Communities Climate Challenge.

Enactus Memorial estimates the density of plastic pollution in the ocean around Newfoundland and Labrador to be about 5,000 pieces of plastic per square kilometre.

Project R3D anticipates keeping about 5,000 pounds of plastic out of landfills by the end of next year.