William to visit the Oval to mark Earthshot Prize winner’s eco-packaging deal

The Prince of Wales will visit the Oval cricket ground to celebrate an Earthshot Prize winner’s new contract supplying sustainable packaging for use in sporting venues.

William, who founded the prize to recognise and scale up projects to repair the planet, will join Pierre Paslier, co-founder and co-chief executive officer of Notpla, to hear about his company’s multi-million pound deal.

Notpla’s seaweed-based products will be supplied to Levy, a leading sports and entertainment caterer, for use in more than 50 venues from the Oval to Wimbledon’s All England Lawn Tennis Club and London’s O2 Arena.

The prince has been instrumental in helping support the relationship between Levy and Notpla, which in 2022 won the build a waste-free world Earthshot category.

Last autumn, Mr Paslier talked about the help they had received from William in making industry contacts after he helped them secure trials of their products at Premier League football clubs.

The new contract will see Levy using an expected 75 million items of Notpla’s seaweed-based food packaging materials over the next three years, helping them to meet their ambitious climate targets.

Singapore staged the most recent Earthshot awards ceremony last November after prizegiving events were held in Boston in 2022 and London’s Alexandra Palace in 2021, with Cape Town named as this year’s host city.

As the Duke of Cornwall, William could be seen as the Oval’s landlord as the sporting venue is part of the Duchy of Cornwall, a portfolio of land, property and investments which provide an income for the Prince of Wales.

He will tour the cricket ground, meeting Surrey cricketers, training ahead of the start of the season, and ground staff who have created a special marquee which replicates the conditions of a summer’s day for practice sessions.