Meet Samiksha Ganeriwal Who Made 100% Biodegradable Paper Bottles As An Alternative To Plastic Bottles
We all know how harmful plastic is to our environment. It takes forever to degrade, and garbage dumps across the world see heaps of plastic waste every day. Despite this, due to plastic¡¯s cost-effective and versatile nature, more and more products continue using virgin plastic.
Single-use plastic, from carrying bags to packing covers and water bottles, has become a major threat to the environment. One of the biggest issues with single-use plastic is that, though it is recyclable, a large portion of it is not actually recycled and ends up in landfills or in the environment.
While plastics are not bio-degradable, they can break up into tiny fragments called microplastic and can wreak havoc. They then end up in water bodies, get eaten by fish and other aquatic beings, and can gradually make it to the human body.
As awareness about the plastic menace grows, many are willing to give it up and embrace more eco-friendly alternatives. But unfortunately, there are not many such options that are available.
A Noida start-up has created the first-ever biodegradable paper bottles that can replace plastic water bottles and these paper bottles are also more cost-effective than plastic.
The brains behind biodegradable paper bottles
According to 2018-19 reports, India creates about 3.3 million metric tonnes of plastic waste and a major chunk of it either ends up in landfills or clogs up our water resources resulting in a damaged aquatic ecosystem. India¡¯s major cities topped the list of the world¡¯s most polluted cities and it¡¯s a great example of how plastic is affecting our lives.
Taking a challenge to reduce plastic from the country, Samiksha Ganeriwal, the founder of Kagzi Bottles, found an alternative to single-use plastic bottles at a pocket-friendly cost.
The founder of Kagzi Bottles, Samiksha Ganeriwal said in a conversation with The Better India, that she first realised the plastic problem when she was working on a college project to replace plastic bags. The idea stuck with her even years later, and in 2016, she finally quit her job at an MNC to start her dream project of setting up her own plastic solutions company.
After spending two years on her dream project, Samiksha Ganeriwal founded Kagzi Bottles and created 100% compostable paper bottles.
Established her company in 2016
Samiksha did MBA from Vision Jyothi Institute of Management. After this, she worked in many MNCs in Hyderabad. In 2016, Samiksha started her own company of packaging solutions and started working to find cheaper alternatives for plastic bottles.
Biggest challenge
When she was working on her dream project whose main motive was finding the best and cheaper alternative to plastic bottles, she faced many challenges. One of them is lack of information and method of product, how to create it. To actualise her dream into reality and make mother earth safer, she consulted with many scientists and product designers to develop the product.
India's first 100% biodegradable bottles
Samiksha Ganeriwal¡¯s intense research of two years started with consulting experts on the subject, followed by inventing machinery to make paper bottles, and finally culminated in the development of India's first completely biodegradable bottles that are made using paper waste and cost less than plastic.
Making Kagzi Bottles popular among the people, who love to use transparent bottles was also a tough challenge for her.
Priced between Rs. 19 to Rs. 22?
Paper waste for the project is sourced from a firm in Himachal Pradesh, broken down into pulp, and then moulded into two halves of the bottle. These plastic-free Kagzi Bottles are made in about two days and can be used to store toiletries, powders, and other liquids. The company, which produces around two lakh bottles per month, has priced them between Rs. 19 to Rs. 22.
Samiksha Ganeriwal believes that these compostable bottles have the potential to replace plastic as a packaging material in the future and their impact on the environment will certainly be beneficial, above all. Also, these eco-friendly paper bottles can help India achieve its goal of phasing out single-use plastics by 2022.
