MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Scientists from across the country gathered at the White House this week to present their findings to President Obama - cancer treatments, protective gear for firefighters, new kinds of water filters. And one team from Missouri is tackling Styrofoam waste, which take hundreds of years to decompose in a landfill.
REAGAN: I'm Reagan.
CHRISTINA: I'm Christina.
JULIANNA: I'm Julianna.
SINDHU: I'm Sindhu.
SYDNEY: And I'm Sydney.
MARTIN: Yes, you've figured it out. The scientists are 12 and 13 years old - Christina Yepez, Sindhu Bala, Sydney Gralike, Julianna Jones and Reagan Mattison. They are also members of Troop 1484 - Girl Scouts from St. Louis, Mo. And they've got an elevator pitch that is very well coordinated.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #1: People told us that there was no solution to recycling Styrofoam.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #2: But we put our heads together...
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #1: And we did it while creating a useful, effective product.
They call it the Eco Bin.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #3: And the Eco Bin is a kit for homes and businesses where you take the...
MARTIN: So you put your Styrofoam coffee cups and packing peanuts and you toss them in Eco Bin. There's a non-toxic solution inside that turns that trash into a gooey glue.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #3: And then we pick it up, same as you would with trash and recycling.
MARTIN: While developing the product, they sent the glue to a lab to be tested by more senior scientists. The result - it is nontoxic and a pretty strong adhesive. Now the team is working to patent the invention. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.