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India generates 9.3 to 10.2 million tons of plastic waste every year.
3.5 million of them enter the environment as debris. And the 5.8 million are burned. As Indians, we must control or eradicate our use of plastic as the population grows at a steady pace. A change must come. Can one imagine a world where we live without plastic? Highly likely. Yet, despite countless bans and regulations across the globe, plastic continues to float into every corner possible, from water bottles to beaches, rivers, and landfills. Plastic is highly durable and takes hundreds to thousands of years to degrade, yet we continue to produce and discard it at alarming rates, barely giving our planet time to breathe. Is a completely plastic-free future possible? Probably not. But this can change, hopefully, bit by bit, if we switch to sustainable packaging.

What is Sustainable Packaging?

Also known as green packaging, sustainable packaging refers to packaging solutions that reduce environmental harm by replacing conventional plastic or paper with recycled materials, biodegradable alternatives, or renewable resources.

Some commonly known plastic alternatives include jute and paper bags. When it comes to replacing paper itself, materials like bagasse are emerging as powerful solutions in India. Something I will explain shortly.

The BiOUR Story

Based in Mumbai, BiOUR Pack is a sustainable packing provider that focuses on creating eco-friendly alternatives to plastic and, in some cases, traditional paper. The company was founded taking into consideration the growing concerns around plastic pollution and waste mismanagement.

Its mission is to contribute towards a cleaner, eco-friendly, and plastic-free India. While the world produces plastic, it produces something that doesn’t harm the environment.

BiOUR Pack manufactures high-quality, eco-friendly, biodegradable products such as disposable cups, plates, and food containers made primarily from bagasse. These products serve as effective alternatives to plastic and even certain paper-based packaging solutions.

India is a major exporter and manufacturer of Bagasse products, producing about 100 million tons of this golden nugget every year. But what exactly is Bagasse?

Bagasse is a fibrous byproduct obtained after extracting juice from sugarcane. Traditionally considered agricultural waste, bagasse has now found a second life as a sustainable raw material. After extracting the juice, the remaining sugarcane fibres are cleaned and processed. The pulp is moulded into plates or containers, excess water is drained, and pressure is applied to remove moisture. The products are then dried, trimmed to smooth rough edges, and sent through quality control checks before being packed and distributed across India and even the Gulf.

What makes bagasse remarkable is that it is biodegradable and compostable. BiOUR Pack, their mission to produce sustainable materials, uses Bagasse, a suitable alternative to non-biodegradable plastics and wood, which would otherwise be burnt or discarded.
It is impressive to realise that such alternatives to paper and plastic already exist.

It reminds me of my school days when I used to buy school notebooks. I was always fascinated by the last pages, which were filled with puzzles, crosswords, or fun facts. At the bottom of the back cover was a small block of text describing the source of the paper.

Notebooks by Classmate were made with paper sourced from well-managed forests, while other brands proudly mentioned using bagasse-based paper. That small detail stayed with me, and years later, became one of the reasons I felt compelled to write this article.

Coming back to BiOUR Pack, their catalogue offers durable, biodegradable, leak-proof, and food-safe containers that replace non-biodegradable plastics. They store food items from curries to ice creams, and all without compromising the environment. They stand by their mission: to replace plastics with green packaging.

The Bollant Story

Most of us are familiar with Srikanth Bolla, the visually-impaired entrepreneur whose life story was portrayed in a biopic starring Rajkummar Rao.

However, many are not aware of his contributions to sustainability and inclusive employment in India.

Srikanth Bolla is the founder of Bollant Industries, a company that manufactures eco-friendly packaging and disposable products from recycled paper and fallen areca leaves.

Their manufacturing model is wholly beneficial for both the environmental and the social. What sets other companies apart is their employment of differently-abled and unskilled individuals. Can you imagine that?

Indeed, it is a unique company founded by a visually impaired entrepreneur who focuses on sustainability and inclusion in a working ecosystem that does not prioritise either of them. It fascinates me that sustainability is not limited to materials alone, but people, processes, and even purpose.

As the Indian population increases steadily every year, the accumulation of plastic will increase rapidly. BiOUR Pack and Bollant Industries are among the many sustainable packaging companies formed to replace the debilitating effects of plastic. While plastic may never disappear entirely, such companies show that alternatives to plastic are possible, and awareness must be spread to encourage people to switch to greener materials.

It may not save the planet overnight, but this is a small baby step towards saving the environment. Future generations, and of course Planet Earth, will thank us all.

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