Kochi: As more tourist destinations turn away from plastic water bottles, demand for biodegradable water packaging is growing — and a Kerala startup is becoming a major talking point with its flagship innovation: Polylactic acid-based compostable bottles.
The PLA bottles are a revolutionary step forward in the beverage and packaging industry, offering a viable alternative to traditional plastic bottles which contribute significantly to plastic pollution.
Now, state government-owned bottled drinking water company Hilly Aqua has decided to use Kochi-based Greenbio Products’ innovation to package drinking water.
Pradeep Kokkatt, co-founder of Greenbio Products, said, “Polylactic Acid, or PLA, is a biodegradable material derived from renewable resources such as corn starch, sugarcane, or cassava. Unlike conventional plastics made from petrochemicals, PLA is completely compostable under industrial composting conditions, breaking down into natural elements like carbon dioxide, water, and biomass.”
At present, besides Hilly Aqua, Greenbio Products is supplying the preforms to Crisil, a Malappuram-based private company. The startup — founded in 2019 by Pradeep alongside Dr Aliasgar Vora — had developed a commercially viable product by 2024.”We are getting more and more inquiries. But we plan to restrict our association with companies in Kerala to three and will be looking to sell it outside the state and overseas. Already, we have been approached by companies in Dubai and also the neighbouring states,” he said.
The company plans to supply raw materials to international firms and preforms to Indian ones. The product takes around a month to degrade in an industrial setting, and three to four months otherwise depending on humidity and soil bacteria.
The company, which was featured in Forbes report ‘The new age leaders: Inspiring journeys of innovation, growth and global impact’, is now diversifying into straws and even liquor bottles.”The issue with paper straw got highlighted recently after US President Donald Trump struggled with them. So, we came up with a biodegradable straw which is even safer than paper straws. Paper straws have adhesives that are harmful. We have already received many orders,” Pradeep said.
The company has approached the industries department seeking space to set up a manufacturing unit in Kerala. Currently, manufacturing is outsourced to factories in Tamil Nadu.
