How These 5 Green Start-ups are Building the Perfect Substitutes to Plastic to Make this Planet Greener & BetterPrime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech said the country should strive to get rid of single-use plastic, which has affected businesses of manufacturers

India generates around 26,000 tonne of plastic waste every day, and almost half of it remains uncollected and scattered across the land mass. Given plastic takes 1,000 years to decompose, these remain on the surface of earth compounding global warming, greenhouse gas emission, carbon footprint and choking sewage systems in urban areas leading to flooding. These are often eaten by cattle as well leading to health issues.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech said the country should strive to get rid of single-use plastic, which has affected businesses of manufacturers. However, the government later clarified that it will not be a blanket ban.

While the environment ministry is in the process of defining products which will be considered single-use plastic, these items are likely to include plastic carry bags, bottle caps, plastic bottles in which drinks such as water sold and cutlery, among others.

Across the world, many countries including the European Union has banned the use of single-use plastic. In India, around 18 states have also banned such plastic products though the curbs have led to partial cut down in use of such items.

There are a clutch of start-ups which have come up with alternatives to single-use plastics. These innovative products are eco-friendly, bio-degradable and mostly made out of natural waste.

Pappco Greenware

孟买Pappco founde陶坯d in 2011 by Anil Agarwal, Aadesh Agarwal, and Abhishek Agarwal to find sustainable alternatives to plastic products. The start-up develops myriad products such as plates, glasses, bowls made out of natural fibers like sugarcane, wheat straw, and bamboo. With over 100 products in its offering, Pappco Greenware is providing very simple yet sustainable solutions to plastic.

Ecosac

Providing an alternate solution to plastic carry bags, Ecosac manufactures bags out of parachute fabric which is durable, sturdy, washable, reusable, trendy and colorful and can last a minimum for 3 years. Another advantage of using them is that they can be reused as cushion fillers, car carpets, jackets linings, etc. Ecosac was founded by Anil Chowta in 2013.

Beco

The debate surrounding plastic ban has suddenly become the talk of the town. Every nook and corner of the world is suffering from the climatic changes and environmental turbulency that has disrupted the world. Beco emerging from Be Eco was founded by Aditya Ruia, Anuj Ruia, and Akshay Varma in 2018 and it manufactures one-time use products like tissue napkins, toilet roll etc from corn starch and bamboo. The mission of Beco is to provide eco-friendly and biodegradable alternatives so that using one-time products don't become a burden on the health of the environment.

Tenith Innovations

Founded by a 21-year-old entrepreneur, Tenith Adithya's endeavour of banana leaf technology caught the eyes of the United Nations. He created the technology that preserves banana leaves for one year without using any chemicals. This increases its durability and ability to survive extreme pressures and temperature thereby expanding the scope of utilities that can be derived from it.

EnviGreen

Envigreen produces products such as trash bags, carry bags, packaging films etc made from natural starch, vegetable oil derivatives and vegetable waste. These natural products are the most befitting substitutes for plastic which harm neither the environment nor the living beings. Envigreen was founded by Ashwath Hegde in 2012 and is today present in 17 countries.