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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n\u201cThermocol is worse than plastic as it isn\u2019t recyclable. Almost 95% of it reaches landfills and catches fire easily. We had developed a biodegradable thermocol using paddy stubble, which can be moulded in any shape and can decompose within 14 days. After processing, stubble is bio-fabricated using strains of mushroom roots,\u201d said Dhupar. Stating that it was a win-win situation for all concerned, Dhupar added, \u201cAt least 5 million tonnes of thermocol are produced annually in India alone. The volume used to pack one set of glassware can pollute 5,000 litres of air. Besides, stubble on over two million hectares under paddy in Punjab and Haryana is also burned. Last year, for research and development, we procured stubble from 180 acres. This year we are aiming at 1,500 acres of stubble.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Neha Jain, whose start-up Zerocircle recently got facilitated by Central Pollution Control Board, has developed a polybag-like material that can dissolve within weeks and is safe to be eaten by both land and marine animals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe packaging solution is ocean safe. It has applications similar to polybags, but the only difference is that it dissolves. The material is made of seaweed extracts, thus making it safe for consumption by animals. We had tested it with emulsions and oil, so it can be used as packaging material. It is transparent, stretchable and doesn\u2019t make a crackling sound. The best part is that one can simply dump it anywhere and it will degrade within six weeks. But the product cannot store water,\u201d said Jain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vaibhav Anand, who runs the start-up Bambrew, said, We have succeeded in enhancing the property of paper to behave like plastic. This material can be used as milk packets. However, due to cost constraints few milk producers have reached out to us. But the millions of used milk bags that often reach landfills turn out to be far more expensive.\u201d His Bengaluru-based firm is already providing packaging solutions to several retailers, e-commerce, food delivery apps in Delhi. \u201cPackaging alone comprises 55% of the total waste generated and recycling plastic is not a solution as it can only be recycled once or twice. Later, virgin plastic is needed to recycle it, which requires producing more plastic,\u201d added Anand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a small village in Ayodhya, Yash Pakka is offering a sustainable solution with plastic tableware. \u201cWe are making biodegradable disposable tableware like plates, cups, spoons, etc using sugarcane husk. The only issue is its cost. The ban may help industries like us raise production and reduce costs. Currently, our plate costs Rs 7, while a plastic one costs around Rs 4,\u201d said an official of the firm. While start-ups seem apprehensive about awareness and the government\u2019s preparedness regarding the ban, an official said, \u201cWe are in talks with several organisations to help them with outreach and bringing alternatives in the market. There is still time as the ban is two months away,\u201d said an official from Delhi\u2019s environment department.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With over 19 single-use plastic items facing a ban from July, a few start-ups have offered solutions and alternatives to ensure that this prohibition doesn\u2019t fall flat like earlier ones. The start-up of Arpit Dhupar, who studied biotech at IIT-Delhi, has devised biodegradable thermocol-like material made of stubble. His NCR-based firm, Dharaksha Ecosolutions, hopes to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"Bio-fabricated materials which can be eaten by both land and marine animals without harmful impact, are the issues of several start-ups in India","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[11270,5847,20351,7105,13283,12388],"supplier":[20352,20350,20129],"class_list":["post-109396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-biodegradability","tag-bioplastics","tag-feeedstocks","tag-packaging","tag-seaweed","tag-tableware","supplier-bambrew","supplier-dharaksha-ecosolutions","supplier-zerocircle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109396\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109396"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=109396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}