Indonesian startup Evoware is making edible glass from seaweed to reduce plastic waste

Do you know that only one in five plastic bottles are recycled? Americans consume over 8.6 billion gallons of bottled water. The plastic waste is not limited to the United States. The problem of plastic waste is a lot more in developing countries in Africa and Asia. For example, Indonesia is the world’s second biggest plastic waste contributor to the ocean.  90 percent of plastic waste go into the ocean; 70% of that waste comes from food and beverage packaging  Evoware is a young startup in Indonesia that is taking an unconventional approach to curb plastic waste.  Evoware’s mission is to create innovative solutions from seaweed to solve plastic issue, while increasing the livelihood of indonesia’s seaweed farmers.

Evoware is a socially responsible enterprise that promotes  environmentally friendly lifestyle and provides innovative value to urban society. The startup was founded by David Christian, Edwin Aldrin, Noryawati Mulyono, Benyamin Gunawan, and Surianto. One of the co-founders of Evoware, David Christian,  said the idea of creating the edible and biodegradable products came from concern about the high pollution rate in Indonesia. According to Nature Communications, four of Indonesia’s rivers rank among the 20 most polluted in the world in terms of mismanaged plastic waste measured in metric tons.  Evoware decided to address this problem by creating delicious edible bio-plastic. The edible bio-plastic sachet and packaging were made from seaweed.  Evoware believes this a real solution to reduce plastic waste that mostly came from food and beverage packaging. This edible bio-plastic applicable for sugar sachet, coffee sachet, seasoning sachet, burger wrap, rice wrap and not limited to semisolid and liquid packaging like shampoo and lotion sachet.

Evoware bio-plastic has 2 years of shelf life without using preservatives, biodegradable, dissolve in warm water and 100% nutritious. It can also be custom for different taste, color, and brand logo. Not only this plastic is good for our earth, it’s also good for our body.

Through this edible bio-plastic, Evoware also makes positive impact for Indonesian seaweed farmers. Indonesia seaweed producer are one of the poorest in the island and Evoware is also helping to be sustainable by providing them jobs. Many of seaweed farmers live in poverty and they children suffer from malnutrition and uneducated. Growing this business means increasing their livelihood and well-being. Evoware has received about 25 awards from different environmental organizations around the world.

You can see their video below.