Around the globe, plastic packaging and disposable tableware makes up a significant portion of discarded waste. This problem is particularly acute in India, where policy makers are now pushing for change as part of broader efforts to curb the flood of rubbish. Some Indian states have even instituted a ban on plastic.
In these areas, there is now a high demand for sustainable packaging alternatives – a stroke of luck for Eduardo Gordillo and his start-up, Bio-lutions International AG. With the support of the German Investment and Development Corporation (DEG), the entrepreneurs from Hamburg are currently establishing a production facility in Bangalore for bio-based packaging and disposable tableware: “With our process, we will soon be producing up to 2,000 tonnes a year at the plant,” says Eduardo Gordillo.
Ecologically valuable and locally manufactured
Gordillo was born in Colombia, and originally studied architecture. He emigrated to Germany twenty years ago, where he completed a masters degree in Industrial Design at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart. In 2005, he founded the design agency upgrading GmbH in Hamburg, where he is still the managing director. Around this time, he began to take an interest in the production of ecological products, and five years ago came up with the idea for his spin-off business, Bio-lutions. “I wanted to create an ecologically valuable product that can be manufactured on a decentralised and ecologically sound basis. With this in mind, we opted for agricultural waste as a raw material,” says Gordillo.
After several years of experimenting and tinkering alongside technology partner, Zelfo, from Joachimsthal in Brandenburg, the spin-off developed an ‘up-cycling’ procedure that can be applied anywhere in the world. The process transforms previously unused agriculture plant waste into innovative and valuable products. From rice straw to banana trunks or pineapple shrubs –for the Hamburg-based spin-off, all of these represent a precious resource for packaging materials and disposable tableware. “We’ve already packed tomatoes in packaging made from tomato plants,” says Gordillo. He calls this concept ‘re-packaging’.