Under the patronage of Prof. Dr. Atef Alam Eldin, President of East Port Said National University, and under the supervision of Associate Professor Dr. Mohamed Yasser, Director of the Clinical Pharmacy Program, Director of the University’s Entrepreneurship Club, and the University’s Competition Coordinator, the PharmaCycle project stands as an innovative example of transforming waste into added value that serves both health and the environment. This initiative reflects the University’s commitment to supporting innovation and entrepreneurship and encouraging students to develop practical solutions to environmental and societal challenges. The project originated from a fresh perspective on plant waste generated within the university environment, viewing it as a resource with untapped potential rather than simply waste to be discarded. The team makes use of plant waste generated by the University cafeteria and administrative offices, as well as waste from the University’s medicinal plant farm, particularly red cabbage residues. The team is working to extract natural anthocyanin pigment from this waste and repurpose it to develop an eco-friendly smart pharmaceutical label. The label relies on color changes as a visual indicator to help detect whether temperature-sensitive medicines, such as insulin and vaccines, have been exposed to temperatures exceeding their safe storage limits. PharmaCycle offers a practical application of the circular economy within the university environment. Rather than ending its lifecycle through disposal, plant waste begins a new journey, becoming a raw material for an innovation that could contribute to a more sustainable pharmaceutical solution. The PharmaCycle team is led by Asmaa Karim Mohamed Karim, a second-year student at the Faculty of Pharmacy, under the supervision of Assistant Lecturer Abdelrahman El-Bahrawy. The project reflects the University’s vision of empowering students to transform scientific ideas into innovative, practical projects. It also fosters a culture of entrepreneurship and creates opportunities to develop solutions that combine environmental impact with economic and societal value. East Port Said National University reaffirms that recycling is not merely about reducing waste; it is an opportunity to create new value. Entrepreneurship begins with an idea capable of turning challenges into opportunities, waste into resources, and knowledge into innovations that make a real difference.
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