With an aim to replace paper and plastic products, Rishabh and Rohan Suri started ‘Qudrat’, a venture that makes biodegradable tableware from agricultural waste.
It was while paddling up to a wave on Kovalam Beach in Kerala that Rishabh found his motivation to start the venture.
“While practising surfing, oftentimes a paper or plastic cup would hit my head. Sometimes, even a plastic bag would get wrapped around my feet. The sea is full of such waste,” he says.
“When you go slightly outward into the sea, a huge amount of plastic lies there,” he adds.
In order to do their bit to tackle the growing plastic problem, the Kerala-based brothers started Qudrat that creates 100 percent biodegradable tableware from agri-waste such as rice bran, rice husk, and rice straw.
Explaining how these products are made, Rishabh says, “Firstly, we collect husk and rice grain from mills in Thiruvananthapuram, and straw from farmers across the Kerala belt.”
“Then after heating, crushing, and mixing them, the raw materials are compressed and moulded into finished products,” he adds.
He goes on to say that their plates and cups can hold water for 25 and 70 minutes respectively, without any leakage.
Other than being biodegradable, Rishabh says that the uniqueness of the products makes them safe to be eaten by any animals too!
“If our tablewares are not disposed properly after a party then they would not harm any animals if they consume it,” he adds, saying that the products have been certified by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
With this work, the siblings have been able to prevent 4,000 kilos of agri-waste from being burned and saved 2,880 kilos of single-use plastics from entering landfills and the sea.