He carefully put the plastic into the water and melted it.
'Cheers !'
In front of the camera, he did not hesitate to pick up the cup of 'plastic water' and drank it.
what?!!
Don't worry, he didn't think about it. This 'plastic' is made entirely of tapioca, safe and safe, and safe to eat.
This guy is the founder of Indonesian environmental company AVANI ECO. Their eco-products such as cassava plastic have been sold to 26 countries around the world, changing the plastic use habits of countless people. In 2016 alone, 'Our products have replaced 200 tons of plastics. ' .
How did all this start?
With more than 17,000 islands in Indonesia, Indonesia is a paradise for many people. Every year, more than 15 million tourists are influx, of which nearly 6 million will come to Bali. However, the pollution situation in paradise is so severe that it is world famous.
Here, there are rubbish everywhere, including rivers, beaches, and even the garbage of the capital Jakarta. The Indonesian government has put a lot of environmental laws and regulations, invested a lot of manpower and resources to clean up the garbage, and even dispatched the army. However, the garbage problem is still The lingering haze brought great trouble to the locals.
Every year, millions of tons of garbage flow into the oceans of Indonesia. According to a study published in the journal Science by Jenna Jamback of the University of Georgia, nearly 3.2 million tons of plastic pollution was discharged into Indonesian waters in 2010.
Many are accidentally eaten by marine animals, staying in the body for a long time, and then gradually enriched with the food chain, threatening various organisms, including human health.
For the pollution problem, there is a '3R' environmental protection concept in the world, namely Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, to promote people to protect the environment.
In 2009, when Kevin Kumala, who loved surfing, returned to his hometown of Bali from the United States, everything in front of him made him stunned: The once beautiful island, now covered with rubbish everywhere, even the blue sea is polluted by the garbage.
When Kevin Kumala and friend Daniel Rosenqvist sat in the bar, they saw a lot of motorbikes in plastic raincoats driving by.
These plastic raincoats will soon be thrown into the dump, or landfilled, or flowed into the sea, and then the locals will buy it again, throw it again, and go back and forth. Every year, the sales of plastic raincoats are very good, it became A large source of local garbage.
Kevin Kumala has studied biology. He said: Why don't we produce biodegradable bioplastic raincoats? It is completely degraded in the environment compared to petroleum plastics and is very environmentally friendly.
More importantly, by promoting bioplastics, popularizing environmental knowledge, and slowly changing people's dependence on plastics, is this not a good business model for sustainable development?
He feels that the '3R' environmental concept is not enough, 'because the habits of consumers are hard to change.' Therefore, the fourth is needed: replace, to let harmful plastics out of people's lives.
As a result, they procured various raw materials for research and development, and successfully produced the first degradable raincoat in Hong Kong. In 2011, they brought raincoats to Bali, which sold very well and soon became a popular product in Bali.
But they don't want to stop there. Kevin and Daniel hope that the raincoat production site will be closer to Bali, more geographically advantageous, and want to replace more plastic products. However, the most important technical problem is still in the materials and processes. In the process.
Kevin Kumala was soaked in the laboratory all the time. After a lot of research, he discovered this very suitable material - tapioca powder. In Bali, cassava is a food that is overproduced and has a very low price. It is used to make creatures. Plastics have great advantages.
This plastic does not cause pollution during the production process, but it can also be directly degraded in the environment, only into water and carbon dioxide, without producing any harmful substances.
They have developed biodegradable plastics, some are made with industrial tapioca starch (cannot be eaten). When used up, they can be directly added to the composting machine to degrade and turn into fertilizer; some can be directly dissolved in hot water and become a cup to eat. Instant cassava drink'.
These 'plastics' have been tested for oral toxicity in animals, and even in the ocean, they do not cause harm to marine life.
As a result, these plastic materials slowly replaced the local disposable plastic tableware and began to sell overseas.
'If you are running a good business, you should really pay attention to what your customers want. They tell me that even if they are already using our eco-friendly bioplastic bags, they still use Styrofoam food containers and cups. '
In the process of groping, they also slowly developed various suitable new products. In 2014, they founded Avani Eco, which produces environmentally friendly plastic products including ponchos, shopping bags, polyethylene bags, aprons, garbage bags, gloves, Laundry bags, raincoats, sheets, packaging, shower caps, seat covers, straws, etc., materials also extend from potato flour to corn flour and other plants.
Each product has its own characteristics, and can even be customized according to the needs.
Carefully crafted processes reduce costs and enable them to market their products at a lower price. For example, 'I'm Not Plastic' cassava tote, which is only 3 cents more expensive than regular plastic bags. .
This low price has led to the expansion of their business. In July 2017, the travel3sixty website mentioned in the interview: Avani Eco products have been sold to 26 countries around the world, far more than the business in Indonesia, which has replaced 200 tons in 2016. Plastic.
These products have been internationally recognized. Patrick Krieg, deputy director of the Plastics Industry Association, commented: 'Now an important thing about bioplastics is that new materials are always being explored, and (Avani) is made with cassava. Great innovation. '
In 2017, environmental company AVANI won the World's Most Valuable Business Award in Indonesia.
In addition to the continuous introduction of various series of products, Avani also participated in a large number of environmental activities, fulfilling corporate social responsibility and raising people's awareness of plastic waste.
For example, we work with many non-profit organizations such as Bye Bye Plastic Bags ('Goodbye Plastic Bags'), World Wildlife Fund ('World Wildlife Fund') and Indonesia Diet Kantong Plastik ('Indonesian Sports Diet Plastic Bags').
Numerous environmental activities have slowly affected, and the Indonesian government responded to these actions by testing the impact of additional charges on plastic bags in 23 city centres in Bali (including the capital, Denpasar). It is estimated that there are some The reduction of the local 'plastic bag is as high as 40%'.
Subsequently, these organizations successfully persuaded the government to start zero petroleum plastics activities in 2018. This is a major turning point in the Indonesian plastic revolution.