A Puerto Rico seventh-grader has found an unusual use for something that would normally be thrown away after lunch: plantain peels.
asserted
that → find → lunch
Wileidy Feliciano-Rivera collected discarded peels from her school cafeteria and turned them into a biodegradable mulch designed to control weeds in agricultural soil.
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Rivera → collect → soil
In four-week tests, her two plantain-based mulch versions reduced weed growth by 47% and 53% compared with uncovered soil, while also helping retain moisture and lower soil temperatures.
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versions → base → temperatures
Her project has now earned her a place among the 30 finalists in the 2026 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge, according to the Society for Science, the competition organiser.
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project → earn → Science
Wileidy, a seventh-grade student at Escuela Intermedia Rafael Irizarry Rivera in Peñuelas, Puerto Rico, began the project by looking at two problems connected to agriculture: plastic waste and the disposal of organic material.
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Wileidy → begin → material
Plastic mulch is used by farmers to cover soil, suppress weeds and help retain moisture.
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mulch → use → moisture
But after use, plastic mulch can become agricultural waste.
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mulch → become → use
Wileidy explored whether a biodegradable material could perform some of the same functions without relying on conventional plastic.
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material → explore → plastic
Her attention turned to plantain peels being discarded at her school.
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attention → turn → school
Instead of treating them as waste, she investigated whether they could serve as the raw material for a bioplastic mulch.
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they → treat → mulch
The resulting project was called EcoMusa.
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project → result → ?
Its name reflects the use of Musa paradisiaca, the scientific name used in the project for the plantain source material.
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name → reflect → material
How Wileidy made EcoMusa
The young researcher processed the discarded plantain peels and used them to produce sheets of bioplastic.
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researcher → make → bioplastic
According to Society for Science, she first chopped the peels into smaller pieces before blending them with water, acetic acid, glycerin and cornstarch.
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she → accord → water
The mixture was then heated and poured into trays, where it was allowed to dry and form sheets.
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it → heat → sheets
Wileidy produced two versions of the material, known as EcoMusa 1 and EcoMusa 2.
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Wileidy → produce → EcoMusa
She then tested whether they could work as mulch by placing them over soil and comparing their performance with uncovered soil and commercial black plastic mulch.
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they → test → soil
The experiment was designed to look at more than just whether weeds appeared.
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weeds → design → more
Wileidy also monitored soil moisture, soil temperature and how the plant-based material degraded during the test period.
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material → monitor → period
Weed growth dropped by up to 53%
The experiment ran for four weeks, during which Wileidy tracked weed density in the different test areas.
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Wileidy → drop → areas
EcoMusa 1 reduced weed growth by 47%, while EcoMusa 2 produced a 53% reduction compared with uncovered soil.
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EcoMusa → reduce → soil
The Society for Science reported that the two versions performed comparably to the commercial black plastic mulch used in the experiment.
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versions → report → experiment
The mulch also affected conditions beneath the soil covering.
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mulch → affect → covering
The plantain-based materials kept soil temperatures between one and three degrees Celsius lower than uncovered soil and helped retain moisture.
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materials → base → moisture
Those results suggest that the material could perform some of the functions expected from agricultural mulch.
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material → suggest → mulch
However, the experiment was limited to four weeks, so the findings do not establish how the material would perform over a full growing season or across different crops and farming conditions.
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material → limit → crops
A project linking food and plastic waste
EcoMusa brings together two types of waste that are often treated separately.
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that → link → waste
The plantain peels used in Wileidy's experiment were food waste from her school cafeteria.
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peels → use → cafeteria
Turning them into a bioplastic mulch gave that discarded material another potential use.
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Turning → turn → use
At the same time, the project explores an alternative to conventional plastic mulch.
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project → explore → mulch
Because EcoMusa is biodegradable, its intended purpose is not simply to replace one form of plastic with another, but to create a material that can break down after use.
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that → replace → use
The project therefore goes beyond the idea of simply making a new material.
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project → go → material
It examines whether a readily available waste product can be converted into something useful for agriculture.
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product → examine → agriculture
A place among 2026's young science finalists
Wileidy's research has now taken her beyond her school laboratory.
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research → take → laboratory
Her EcoMusa project was selected among the 30 finalists for the 2026 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge.
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project → select → Challenge
The competition, run by the Society for Science, recognises middle-school students conducting research in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
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competition → run → science
The finalists are scheduled to participate in Finals Week in Washington, DC, from October 23 to 28, with more than $100,000 in prizes available.
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100,000 → schedule → prizes
For Wileidy, the project began with a simple observation about material being discarded at school.
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project → begin → school
She turned those peels into a research question and then tested whether the resulting material could do a useful job in agriculture.
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material → turn → agriculture
What the experiment shows
EcoMusa is not yet evidence that plantain-peel mulch can replace commercial agricultural plastic on a large scale.
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mulch → show → scale
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
