Argentine "crazy guy" starts a business in Vietnam, turning trash into treasure

Nano Morante left Argentina 15 years ago at the age of 28 with $300 (about 7 million VND) in his pocket. He did many different jobs to earn money and set foot in dozens of countries around the world .

Nano has been to Vietnam 3 times and almost left forever. So what kept the Argentine man in Vietnam and attached to this land?

Nano Morante is from Argentina. Nestor Catalan is from Spain. They did not know each other until they met four years ago through a group of mutual friends. Realizing their similar goals and views on plastic waste solutions, they decided to start “something” in Ho Chi Minh City.

Before coming to Vietnam, Nestor quit his job in advertising to explore the world. Nano already had a lot of life experience as a firefighter, chef and visual effects artist in movies.

At the time he met Nestor, Nano was even preparing to leave Vietnam forever. Before leaving, he wanted to make a documentary about plastic waste in Vietnam, so he connected with some people who specialized in this field.

However, during that process, Nano realized that "many things were not good enough because they were just plans on paper and he really wanted to make a change". That was what kept Nano in the S-shaped land.

Nano and Nestor founded PLASTICPeople in September 2019 with the mission of recycling plastic waste into sustainable materials. Last year, Nestor decided to return to Spain. The lack of a co-founder was one of the challenges the company faced.

It was a difficult period, but Nano did not give up because he believed that he "owed" the people who believed in the company, from investors, employees to those who regularly sent plastic waste to the company for recycling. In addition, the companionship of the staff also helped Nano overcome the difficulties.

When founding PLASTICPeople, Nano thought this was the time to give back.

"We can't keep receiving from life, we have to give back. I actually received more when I gave. You know, the experiences I had in developing the company and helping people really far outweighed any other values," Nano said.

As for the company name, Nano said that initially, he and Nestor thought of some words like "Recycle" or words related to the environment. The idea of ​​the name PLASTICPeople came up in a meeting, when the presentation mentioned a lot of plastic and people.

Suddenly, Nano realized that the problem mainly revolved around plastic and people, but the solution to their problem was also plastic and people. These are two English words that almost everyone in the world knows. They are also easy to pronounce when placed next to each other, so Nano decided to combine them to form PLASTICPeople.

"My parents used to call me crazy because I was not aware of the risks or difficulties around me. For me, the main challenge in running the company was to make it profitable and sustainable. To do that, we had to create good products, increase competitiveness, all from zero," Nano said.

Over dinner on December 31, 2019, Nano and Nestor told each other that 2020 would be a great year. But that was before the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Because the company was still very young and producing products that were relatively new to the market, it faced many challenges.

Thanks to money from an investor, the company was able to pay its employees and buy machinery. By 2021, the situation had not improved much due to the impact of the pandemic. The company's team shared the little money they earned to make ends meet.

"It was really tough, but looking back, Covid-19 taught us a lot. The most important thing when operating as a company is the ability to adapt. If you don't adapt, your business will die," Nano said.

To Nano and his team’s surprise, there were still customers who wanted to buy the company’s products, even during the lockdown. By the time things reopened in October 2021, PLASTICPeople’s factory had been closed for three months.

PLASTICPeople started operations again in October of this year and everyone is working at full capacity to meet customer demand.

"Despite the constant overtime, everyone was happy. The payments meant everyone had income. It was one of the most special experiences for all of us. It was great that PLASTICPeople survived," Nano recounted.

One of the most unforgettable memories for Nano was right before Lunar New Year 2021, when the company did not have enough money to reward employees. Nano was worried that they would quit and he would have to find new people, but contrary to his thoughts, they still decided to stay to help the company overcome difficulties.

"It's beyond anything I could have expected. They are not only my employees but also my friends and my second family. We are never alone. PLASTICPeople is what it is today because of the help of everyone around us in one way or another," Nano said.

The saying “one man’s trash can be another man’s treasure” is somewhat true for the above start-up. They turn worthless waste into valuable products, even high-value products to serve life.

PLASTICPeople's main sources of plastic waste collection are individuals or households; plastic waste collectors or collection sites and organizations and businesses.

Nano said that last year, a woman called PLASTICPeople and asked how to sort plastic waste for recycling. Since then, the company has been teaching people how to sort, clean, and send it to the factory.

"There are now hundreds of families who regularly send us their trash without asking for anything in return. When you throw trash away, you are not responsible, but someone else is. But when you clean, sort and clean your trash at home to send it to us, you become part of protecting the environment," Nano said.

According to Mekongeye, when a person sends plastic to PLASTICPeople, they receive a membership code and instructions on how to sort plastic at home. For every 30 kg of plastic sent to the company, the sender will receive a random gift of some recycled products such as coasters.

In addition to receiving plastic waste from various places, PLASTICPeople also buys some types of plastic waste that other recycling companies do not buy, such as snack packs, masks, plastic bags or foam boxes... The company traces the source of the waste to know what it is, where it comes from, and whether it is safe and clean.

Safe and clean input materials are used to make furniture, table tops, coasters while lower quality materials are used to make temporary building materials, outdoor mats or things that do not come into direct contact with humans.

Nano explained that milk cartons contain paper, plastic and aluminum, snack bags contain aluminum and several other layers… If you want to recycle them the traditional way, you have to peel off each layer to create the same product.

"85% of plastic waste cannot be recycled in the traditional way, but we can recycle almost 100% of the plastics in the plastic waste. We create good quality final products, even high-end products from the most common types of plastic waste," Nano said.

Regarding price, Nano said that compared to cheap materials, of course his company's products are more expensive. However, compared to high-end materials, their products are 10 to 15 times cheaper because they are waterproof, do not contain chemicals such as glue, artificial colors, etc. More importantly, Nano said the company has almost no inventory. "It's all thanks to the sustainable trend that is popular worldwide," he admitted.

The company will soon open a preliminary treatment center in Hanoi , where residents of the capital will be able to send their plastic waste. However, the final treatment will still take place in Ho Chi Minh City.

Nano said the company does not have enough funds to build a recycling center in Hanoi at this time, but he believes that by appearing here, the company will attract more attention and gradually develop like they did in Ho Chi Minh City.

The founder said that from the beginning, the project received investment from investors, although the amount was not much. The last time the company received investment was in October 2021, the rest was reinvested profits for development. Cooperation with a number of international organizations also helped this startup expand little by little.

"What I want to say is that we are running out of time to protect and restore the environment. Let's act before it's too late. Superhero culture makes us think that someone will appear and save humanity from disasters, but that superhero is none other than ourselves," Nano shared.

What the company has, he said, is not “a beautifully presented, attractive plan on paper, but the amount of plastic waste that has been processed and the environmentally friendly products. “It is also important to add that we are just a vehicle for us to work together to create a positive impact on the environment,” Nano said.

"I consider Vietnam my country and always want to contribute to creating good things for this place," Nano expressed.

Content: Huyen Thanh , Design: Thuy Tien

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