This man quit a high-paying job in the US to make bio bags from maize, vegetables, paper

Thursday November 23, 2017 , 2 min Read

Sibi Chelvan finished his graduation from the US and worked there for a few years. Originally from Coimbatore, one day he decided to quit his high-paying job and luxurious lifestyle to come back to India and start a business. However, he wasn't interested in starting any business just to make money. He was determined to give back to the society by helping his people and protecting the environment at the same time.

That is how Regeno was born a few months back. Sibi makes biodegradable plastic bags from vegetable starch which will not be hazardous to the environment like other plastic bags and sells them through Regeno. He says,

"As the bags are prepared from the wastes of maize, vegetables and paper, the bags will degrade in three months' time. This way, there will be no damage to the soil."

These bio bags burn like paper and turn into ash. Likewise, it can also be melted in hot water. Even if animals happen to consume the covers, there will be no harm to them either.

In Tamil Nadu, there is a ban on using plastic bags that have less than 40 microns. In some areas, there is a ban on plastic bags altogether. Yet, the use of plastic bags continues. In an attempt to curb this, Sibi has introduced bio bags in Coimbatore in collaboration with the corporation. Coimbatore became the second city in South India to have bio bags after Bengaluru.

As the concept of bio bags is new to India, it is slightly expensive to even make them. But Sibi is hopeful that the expenses will go down in the near future.

Read this in Tamil.