The vaccine for the plastic epidemic has arrived | PolyVac
Plastic pollution is one of the causes of environmental disaster. Plastic pollution is a critical problem worldwide; Which is a big threat to environment, biodiversity, economy and human health. About 25 crore polythene bags are used and thrown away every day in Bangladesh. Every day about 4 crore plastic bottles along with several crore disposable plastic plates, glasses, spoons etc. are used. The waste generated from these is mixed into the sea through canals, rivers, which amounts to about two and a half lakh tons. It takes 500 years to destroy this plastic. That is, before this plastic destroys our environment, causing waterlogging. And these plastics cannot be recycled.
Bangladesh was the first country in the world to ban the use of polythene in 2002. However, as there is no alternative, the use of plastic polythene is continuing. And the use of single use plastic has increased after Corona. Bangladesh now has significant alternatives, such as poly bags made from corn, cassava starch, poly bags made from jute cellulose discovered by Bangladeshi scientists. But the problem is that they cost about 5 to 20 times that of conventional polyethylene. And in a price sensitive market like Bangladesh, it is not possible to get used to something new with so much price difference, no matter how healthy it is. Moreover, it is very difficult to do anything else by completely ignoring the plastic sector generated from fossil fuels.
In this situation, the climate-tech company EcoVation Bangladesh has come up with a breakthrough innovative solution after three years of research and trying several solutions. It is a kind of environmentally friendly biodegradable plastic manufacturing formula, where a small amount of vaccine is mixed with plastic polymer to make any plastic product like polythene, single use glass, plate, straw etc. When these are used and thrown on the ground, get moisture, water, air, then slowly that plastic product will take the form of gel so that there will be no microplastic. And in a few more days it will turn into a condition where various microorganisms like fungi, bacteria can eat it. This entire cycle can be timed. It is recyclable, contains no microplastics, and contains no toxic substances. Ecovation is working on a combination of technologies originally developed in the UK, Canada and Bangladesh. Ecovation founder Shanjidul Alam Seban Shaan said, “Plastic pollution is a big problem. No single organization can solve it. This problem can easily be solved by innovative research, environmental movement, awareness activities, government law enforcement and combined efforts of businessmen”. In response to the question of what initiatives are being taken to solve this problem, he said, “We will associate with all the plastic product manufacturing companies in the country such as large factories and bring them under the scope of manufacturing environment-friendly products. For this purpose, we are first establishing two companies from which various eco-friendly biodegradable products will be manufactured. One will be for the domestic market, the other export oriented. Then slowly when our product is known as an alternative to polythene, single use plastic in the market, then we will make this product through association with various factories.
The business potential of this new technology is also high in the flexible packaging market of around BDT 8000 crore and single use plastic market of BDT 20000 crore.
Note that EcoVation Bangladesh has been working on renewable energy and electronic waste recycling since 2014. So far they have distributed free bamboo-bottle solar lamps made by volunteers to 40,000 remote homes without electricity.