Translated material
Startup came up with a waste -free packaging of onion husk
A startup called Huid (from Dutch - leather) from a small city OBAN in Scotland is developing material from onion husks. Eco-funding packaging is conceived as a replacement of cardboard, paper and plastic bags, which will reduce the waste and emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. It is reported by the BBC.
The startup was created by 30-year-old Renuka Ramanujam. In the past, she studied textiles and in working with the material she often used onion husks as a dye. Now her company is buying it up from farmers and agricultural business in order to subsequently make a replacement of cardboard and plastic packaging from it. The startup HUID supports the National Institute for Production of Scotland.
“When heated, plastic passes chemicals directly into food, and I wanted to find a solution to this problem ... Imagine any dish that you would eat, there will certainly be a bow. Onions are one of the main products of world cuisine. He is everywhere - and therefore the waste from him is also everywhere, ” - so Ramanujam described how this idea came to her mind.
She also chose the city of Oban it is no coincidence: in London no one supported her idea, and she moved to Scotland at the invitation of a friend in 2021. According to Ramanujam, she was supported, because there is a "very strong community."
In technochology invented by the Ramanujam, to create cardboard -like material, film and paper from onion husk, high -quality cellulose is removed from the outer shell of onions and mix it with a biopolymer mixture. Polymers are long chains of repeating molecules; In turn, biopolymers are polymers obtained from natural sources, such as proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Since onion husks have antimicrobial properties, such packaging increases the shelf life of perishable products.
According to Ramanujam, the work accelerated after she hired the chief researcher - Marie Rapin. It is Rapin that is now working on prototypes of film from onion husk, which, according to her plan, should replace plastic bags. By the next year, they expect to launch the first product - a paper made completely from onion husks, and later - packaging for eggs. Now the prototypes of the material made of husk are translucent and thicker than the startup wants.
In the future, Huid wants to significantly reduce the number of plastic waste in the UK - annually people throw about 90 billion units of various plastic packages. Ramanujam also hopes that she will be able to completely replace the cardboard and paper to save the trees.
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