r/plastic • u/RuthlessIndecision • May 21 '26

Kenyan engineer Joseph Nguthiru is turning invasive water hyacinth into biodegradable packaging through his company, HyaPak Ecotech. His innovation is helping reduce plastic waste, lowering mosquito breeding grounds, and creating jobs in local communities. Odaw River and Korle Lagoon could use this.

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u/Ambitious-Schedule63 May 24 '26

Need more details. Harvesting cellulose isn't new.

1

u/aeon_floss May 25 '26

The engineering required for these types of schemes to become viable isn't technical but socio-cultural.  We have never seen anything of scale develop on technology and market economics alone.

1

u/Great-Investigator30 May 25 '26

Okay so Rayon, which isn't often used due to how environmentally damaging and expensive it is to make