The products made by Pune-based firm EcoKaari range from yoga bags, duffel bags, storage bags and utility pouches to table runners, foldable trays, pencils and cutlery kits; And the raw material common for all these is single-use plastic waste.
The ‘Maggi Collection’, for instance, is yellow and red in a clear reference to its previous life as the packaging of the popular two-minute noodle. In a country where plastic waste generation has doubled over the last five years and is 3.5 million tonnes annually, according to Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav in April, EcoKaari is a part of the solution.
“From the beginning, our focus was on creating a market impact that would help the environment. The more people we reach, the more the sales would be. On the one hand, we are trying to conserve the environment and, on the other, we are trying to uplift women and young people of India through training,” says EcoKaari’s founder Nandan Bhat.
The company is now upcycling 1.7 million plastic bags and packaging items annually, and employing 25 artisans in its Pune unit and 50 in Karnataka (with 25 more to join). A new small unit of 10 artisans is coming up as a pilot in Bhopal.
“For me, a project has to be financially viable if you want to make any social change,” says Bhat. The company worked heavily on its aesthetics and quality so that the products could stand on their own against other brands. After its launch in September 2020, EcoKaari spent the first three months training artisans and craftspeople. Between January and March 2021, they did sales of Rs 11.40 lakh, largely due to the spurt in gifting by corporates during the Covid years.
In the last financial year, the sales figures were close to Rs 53 lakh. “This year, we have already touched sales of Rs 93 lakh and are expected to cross Rs 2 crore by the end of the financial year,” says Bhat.
EcoKaari has three-four resources for sourcing plastic, such as organisations that work with beggars and IT firms that send shipments of pre-consumer waste. But, in an unusual strategy, the company has marketed itself to individuals and families — not to buy products but to send over biscuit packets, gift wrappings and other plastic generated at home.
“Every day, we receive 10-15 kg of plastic through courier from homes as far away as Leh and Manipur, though south India remains the biggest donor due to greater awareness there,” says Bhat. The company converts waste plastic into handcrafted fabrics using charkha (spindle) and handloom.
“The target is to have more than 100 units in four years, either Ecokaari or funded by somebody else,” says Bhat. “India is a growing economy, which means we will be generating more waste. What is helping the country is that most of our population is in rural areas, where there is not as much single-use plastic waste as in cities. We generate 7 kg of waste per person annually in India, compared to 70-80 kg per person in imany western countries. The government has become proactive about the environment but I don’t know how much time we have to save the environment,” he adds.