EcoKaari, a social enterprise based in Pune, is making exemplary headway with upcycling plastic waste into handbags and other useful items such as fashion accessories.
The enterprise sources its plastic waste from small companies that use plastic to pack food items and NGOs working with waste-pickers. They also collect plastic from many conscious citizens who donate their household plastic waste.
An Instagram video shows women artisans of the upcycling centre, converting multi-layered plastic food wrappers into vegan and sustainable products. The video shows women artisans cutting and converting the plastic wrappers into sustainable fabric using a handloom. They then stitch the fabric to create products like bags and planters.
Multi-Layered Plastics (MLPs), commonly known as Food Wrappers, are the second-highest in the global waste composition. 40% of the worldwide plastic produced is for the packaging industry.
MLP has become one of the favourite packaging materials in fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and the packaged- food industry. These MLPs are used once and discarded – making these single-use plastics which are extremely harmful for the environment.
Multi-Layer Plastic (MLP) is “any material used for packaging and having at least one layer of plastic as the main ingredient in combination with one or more layers of materials such as paper, paper board, polymeric materials, metalised layers or aluminium foil, either in the form of laminate or co-extruded structure.”
EcoKaari advises that people should shop from bulk grocery stores or the eco-friendly store where you can carry your own bags and jars.
And remember to follow the 5Rs always: REFUSE, REDUCE, REUSE, REPURPOSE, and the last option is to RECYCLE/UPCYCLE, it adds.
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