Ukrainian high school student Valentyn Frechka, who invented a technique for making paper from fallen leaves, won the Gold Special Award at the Genius Olympiad in the USA, an annual competitions hosting five general disciplines with an environmental focus.

In April, Hromadske.ua published an interview with Valentyn where he talks about his technique for processing dead leaves into paper (video in Ukrainian).
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBZK04RtPFY[/embedyt]
More than 1,500 projects were submitted to the Olympics, but less than half were accepted, says the official website.
GENIUS Olympiad promotes a global understanding of environmental issues and the achievement of sustainability through basic science, arts, creative writing, engineering, design, and business development. GENIUS Olympiad provides challenges and opportunities for secondary school students, to instill in them the skills and knowledge needed to be the citizens, leaders, scientists, artists, writers, engineers, and policy makers of the future—agents who will promote and contribute to greater environmental sustainability throughout their lives.
Recently, Valentyn Frechka was awarded the Gold medal at the International Olympiad on Ecology, which took place April 4-11, 2018 in Kenya.