Marie Perrin receives Young Inventors Prize "World builder"
The French-American chemist Marie Perrin has been selected as one of the ten finalists for the European Patent Office’s Young Inventors Prize 2025. She received the prize in the category "World builder". Her innovation enables the environmentally friendly recovery of the rare earth element europium from e-waste like discarded fluorescent lamps.
Rare earth elements like europium are essential for modern technologies, found in everything from LED screens to energy-saving light bulbs. However, their extraction poses serious environmental and geopolitical challenges, generating large amounts of toxic waste. This is precisely where the innovation of 28-year-old Marie Perrin, a member of Victor Mougel’s group at ETH Zurich’s Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences (D-CHAB), comes into play.
With her patented process, Perrin has developed a more efficient and eco-friendlier method to extract europium. The technology uses sulfur-containing molecules to isolate the metal from the phosphor powder in used lamps. Europium is isolated in a single step, significantly reducing both chemical waste and energy consumption.
Perrin began her research at ETH Zurich’s D-CHAB in Victor Mougel’s laboratory, initially focusing on water purification before shifting her attention to rare earth recycling. In the future, the technology is expected to be extended to other materials such as rare earth magnets—an important step toward a more sustainable circular economy.
In recognition of her contribution to addressing global environmental challenges, Marie Perrin has been named one of the Top 10 finalists for the 2025 Young Inventors Prize and ha sbeen selected for the Prize in the cetgory: Worls builder.
The Young Inventors Prize honors young inventors for their contributions to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Prize winners in the World builders category use their inventions to ensure a better, more sustainable future and sustainably obtained resources.
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