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Young entrepreneur on a mission to replace paper cups with edible biscuit cups in NE

Mayuri Chowdhury


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With the rising concern over rapid climate change, advocates of sustainability are now focusing on developing eco-friendly alternatives for all possible items, including items of everyday use. And what better if the disposable cups used in abundance in our day-to-day life are made eco-friendly?

Not just eco-friendly but edible too!

In a bid to reduce plastic waste, Ratnadeep Baruah, an aspiring entrepreneur from Guwahati has introduced edible biscuit cups in Guwahati that can be consumed along with the content served in them.

While disposable paper cups are claimed to be eco-friendly, these have a thin plastic lining on the surface to hold the liquid that is not completely biodegradable.

With the introduction of edible cups, Baruah hopes to reduce the wastage of paper and stop the usage of even the last thin layer of plastic.

edible biscuit cups

"I pursued Masters in Social Entrepreneurship, where we were taught to be accountable towards the environment. Ideally, the discussion on sustainability and being sensitive is about climate change and plastic waste. I wanted to do something on my own and know that even a minute step on my part can be of utmost importance when it comes to being eco-friendly. So I came up with the idea of edible cutleries," said Ratnadeep Baruah to Business Northeast.

"I researched companies producing edible cutleries in India, which is a fairly new concept, and found the Bangalore-based start-ups, Edco Cups," he said.

“The government keeps on banning plastic products every other day but hardly focuses on introducing alternatives which will also be affordable, there are so many ways people are changing their lifestyle into a more sustainable manner and this is a small try by me in introducing zero waste edible biscuit cups in Guwahati," he added.

Presently, the edible cups are priced at a higher rate than the regular disposable ones due to the transportation cost and the IGST (Integrated Goods and Services Tax) other than the normal GST. Depending on the size and flavour, a cup costs between Rs.12 to Rs.15.

"We will soon be starting a manufacturing unit here. This will reduce the price, hopefully from Rs. 12 to as low as Rs. 2. Although we are encouraging small vendors to replace paper cups with our edible biscuit cups, the price has been a hindrance," Ratnadeep said.

There is a specific machine that is used in making the cups and it costs around Rs.6 lakh to Rs.10 lakhs with other miscellaneous necessities and workforce, the manufacturing setup will cost around Rs.15 to Rs.17 lakh.

"If we can bring down the price, we can distribute to the other northeastern states as well. The step is to promote zero waste," Baruah stated.

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Mayuri Chowdhury