Young girls' dried leaf straws compete in price with plastic straws

Thanh Truc and Thanh Duyen (from left to right) introduce straws made from coconut leaves and banana leaves - Photo: CONG TRIEU

After a year and a half of brainstorming and experimenting, the Green Future group of five friends, Thanh Duyen, Thao Ngan, Thanh Ngan, Hong Nhung and Thanh Truc (all students at Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade), created a fairly good straw made from leaves that can replace plastic straws.

Made from leaves that are usually discarded

Thanh Duyen – leader of Green Future – said that creating a friendly and environmentally friendly product is the group’s goal. The group’s name Green Future also comes from that determination.

About 8 million tons of plastic waste are dumped into the ocean every year. According to a 2018 study by the American Marine Research Association, as many as 8.3 billion plastic straws are polluting nearly every beach in the world .

Even though straws only account for 0.025% of that, they still get attention and mention in environmental campaigns.

The movement to ban plastic straws started early and spread to many countries and regions around the world, further demonstrating the terrible harm of plastic straws to the environment.

The environmental impact of plastic straws is quite clear, but their convenience and cheap price pose a big challenge for an alternative product.

The types of straws currently available on the market, considered environmentally friendly and made from paper, sedge, bamboo, stainless steel or biological materials, are all priced many times higher than plastic straws.

“A plastic straw costs just over 110 VND, making it popular. So even though the product I make is guaranteed to be environmentally friendly, the high price makes it difficult to convince the majority of users,” Duyen said.

To solve the difficult problem of cheap raw materials, the group immediately thought of leaves. Specifically, coconut leaves and banana leaves with large, long leaves and high durability. Experimenting and seeing the immediate results, the group was so happy they wanted to shout.

Duyen said if mass production is carried out, the group can buy fresh coconut leaves and banana leaves for 7,500 VND/kg, dried leaves will be more expensive.

The group has surveyed this price and has been agreed by many farmers in Long An and Ben Tre. If they do not sell, they do not know what to do other than cut it down, dry it to make fire.

The group is confident that if costs are optimized and industrial production is carried out, the price of straws made from coconut leaves and banana leaves will be competitive with plastic straws - Photo: CONG TRIEU

Can replace plastic straws in terms of price

After initial success, a new challenge arose when it was necessary to find an adhesive that, even when soaked in water, would ensure the health of the user.

Thanh Duyen said that if biological straws are soaked in water for a maximum of 3 hours, they will rot.

The team has researched a glue formula that ensures adhesion, safety for users' health, and can last up to 6 hours when soaked in water.

Because it comes later in the group of environmentally friendly green straws, the product needs to be different.

Instead of grinding the ingredients and molding them as usual, you set the requirement that the straw must keep the original leaf.

Users can easily recognize that the straws are made from banana or coconut leaves. Glue and shaping are two challenges that have given the team a headache for 6 months. These are the things that create success, like an exclusive secret to increase the toughness and elasticity of the product.

Thanh Duyen said that they are completing the application for intellectual property protection for the product. They are confident that they can expand the production scale of leaf straws, initially nearly 145,000 boxes per year.

This is just a figure calculated based on the capacity of a student startup project. If there is a factory or large-scale machinery, the figure will be much larger.

The price of each box of 20 leaf straws is currently 10,000 VND, equivalent to 500 VND/ straw (bio-based straws on the market are currently around 700 - 1,200 VND/ straw). This price still does not satisfy the group, especially with the goal of reaching all customers and shops because it is still higher than plastic straws.

But do you believe that if you buy raw materials in large quantities, optimize the transportation process, industrial production... the price of leaf straws can completely compete with plastic straws?

The Green Future project has just won second prize in the 5th "Industry and Trade Students with Startup Ideas" contest in 2024, recently organized by Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade.

With leaf processing and glue technology, the group is also researching the production of tableware from leaves. The project is considered to bring safety to customers.

The product has unlimited scope of use, is biodegradable, and is in line with the trend of interest in the beverage and food industry, especially in the context of sustainable growth and environmental protection.

Tuoitre.vn

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ong-hut-tu-la-kho-cua-cac-co-gai-tre-canh-tranh-gia-voi-ong-hut-nhua-20241008144146599.htm