Pappco Greenware – How The Startup Is Bringing Eco Friendly Cutlery To India

Plastic, polythene and styrofoam are seeing increased usage in India owing to their nature of being cheap and disposable after use.  However, what people fail to take into account is the damage these materials cause to the environment. In a country with an estimated  population of 134 crores, single use plastics see a lot of use everywhere—from food packaging, covers and bags to cutlery. India, which is primarily an agricultural nation, sees a lot of agricultural waste fit to be used to create products capable of replacing single use plastics.  Pappco Greenware, an Indian startup, is trying to change this trend by introducing high quality cutlery which aims to replace single use plastics with products that are durable and look aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

Founding

Pappco Greenware was founded by Anil Agarwal and his two sons, Abhishek Agarwal and Aadesh Agarwal, in 2011.  On a trip to Singapore, Abhishek Agarwal came across bagasse products and wondered if the same could be injected into the Indian markets since they are compostable alternatives to plastics.  Bagasse is the dry pulpy residue which is left after the juice is extracted from sugarcane. Upon some research, the founders realised the best bagasse products originate in China and went there to explore various factories and their products as a part of their research and development.  After doing this, Pappco Greenware was established.

Initial struggles

Once the Company was established, the sales were negligible.  The difficulty was to get vendors on board to purchase their products.  In order to make the vendors understand the existence of the demand for Paapco’s products, they went on to educate potential customers about the importance of the products they were selling and the negligible environmental impact they have.  Another major hurdle was the similarity in appearance the bagasse products have with styrofoam, making it difficult to distinguish one product from another. The Company bootstrapped in spite of losses and finally managed to penetrate the market.

Products and raw materials

Pappco currently has multiple products in their inventory like plates, cones, glasses, bowls, boxes, straws, baskets, cutlery and many others.  The products are made entirely from bagasse, a material which is available in abundance in India due to sugarcane and bamboo maturing every two years.  The products offered by Pappco Greenware also eliminate the need for cutting down trees and petroleum oils used in the manufacturing of styrofoam. The raw materials used by Pappco are compostable and durable, meaning they are harder than styrofoam and able to withstand high temperatures, making them capable of being used in microwaves.

Pappco aims to aggressively capitalise on the current trend where awareness about sustainability and the environment are increasing among the public and many states are banning the use of single use plastics.  Pappco Greenware partnered with brands like Curefit, Reliance Retail, Marriott Hotels, Taj Hotels and Future Group, to name some. With products like these in the market, everyone can choose to make a difference in reducing the carbon footprint.