Inventions to Replace Single-Use Plastics

GREEN LIVING COLUMN JUNE 2019

INVENTIONS TO REPLACE SINGLE-USE PLASTICS

Compiled and edited by Wong Ee Lynn (wongeelynn@yahoo.com / gl.mnselangor@yahoo.com)

When plastics were first invented around 110 years ago, they were seen as a miracle invention. Plastic is lightweight, durable, waterproof, convenient and inexpensive. However, our failure to manage plastic usage and waste has resulted in an environmental catastrophe. Academics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, have calculated that the world’s plastic manufacturers have over the past century created 8.3 billion tonnes of plastics, with 2 billion tonnes still in use, and 6.3 billion tonnes discarded as waste. Of this 6.3 billion tonnes, 79% has gone into landfills around the world, 12% has been incinerated, and only 9% is recycled.

The Dame Ellen MacArthur Foundation believes that 50% of plastic packaging could be recycled if the products or after-use systems were better designed, and 20% of plastics could be addressed by reuse schemes. However, about 30% of plastics still need a fundamental rethink to prevent them ending up in landfills and oceans.

As the global backlash against plastic waste grows, industry is leading the way and replacing and redesigning single-use products to replace plastics. Here are some of the innovations that have caught our attention:

1.      (Photo credits: evoware.id)

Jakarta-based company Evoware (www.evoware.id) is creating seaweed-based packaging that is available in food-grade and packaging-grade quality. Their inventions include seaweed-based seasonings for instant noodles, with sachets that break down in hot water.

2.      (Photo credits: https://www.greenmatters.com/p/ooho-seaweed-water-london-marathon)
London-based start-up Skipping Rocks Lab developed the Ooho (www.notpla.com), seaweed-based edible pouches for liquids that can last for a few days. In the past few months, water and beverage-filled Ooho pouches have been distributed at events such as marathons and festivals to replace conventional plastic bottles and paper or plastic cups. The invention gained publicity after they were used during the London Marathon in April 2019, reducing plastic waste and cleanup costs.

3.      (Photo credits: Perfecthomes)

Rimping Supermarket in Chiangmai, Thailand, created waves on social media when it replaced plastic packaging in its produce section with banana leaves and secured the leaves in place using a piece of bamboo fibre. This alternative to plastic packaging is ideal for tropical countries such as Malaysia where bananas are widely cultivated.

4.      (Photo credits: http://www.miwa.eu/blog/laser-branding)

The stickers on fruit may not seem like a major contributor to plastic waste, but removing it from produce can still create huge savings in plastic use. In response to consumer demand for less plastics in packaging, Dutch fruit and vegetable supplier Nature & More and Swedish supermarket ICA joined forces to replace sticky labels on produce with a laser mark. Dubbed “natural branding”, the technique uses a strong light to replace pigment from the skin of produce. The mark is invisible once skin is removed and doesn’t affect the shelf life or eating quality of the item.

5.      (Photo credits: https://www.indianeagle.com/travelbeats/narayana-peesapatys-edible-spoons-invention-story/)
Bakeys (www.bakeys.com) is an Indian edible cutlery manufacturing startup based in Hyderabad. In 2016, they launched their range of edible cutlery made of rice, wheat, and sorghum flour to replace the large quantities of disposable plastic utensils being thrown out daily.

6.      (Photo credits: https://wellinsiders.com/new-biodegradable-six-pack-rings-feed-marine-life-instead-of-harming-them/)
Saltwater Brewery (https://saltwaterbrewery.com) invented ocean-friendly Eco Six Pack Rings for their canned beverages. The rings are compostable and made of plant-based ingredients that could provide food for turtles and other marine animals.

7.      (Photo credits: https://challenges.openideo.com/challenge/circular-design/top-ideas/delta)
The Delta team from the United Kingdom won the Circular Design Challenge by redesigning sachets to allow restaurants and the hospitality industry to serve sauces in edible and compostable seaweed-based sachets. The sachet has a shape that allows for easy handling and stacking into secondary packaging, and can have varied thickness and number of layers depending on its purpose. The innovative business model created a service solution in the form of a machine that produces the packaging and fills it with the desired content, whether ketchup for a fast food restaurant or shampoo for a hotelier, thus avoiding the problem of short shelf life.