Health care is flooded in single -use plastics. In American health establishments only, more than 2,800 tonnes of packaging and plastic products are thrown every day.
Few people are more aware than Eddie Yu. At the start of the pandemic, Yu founded a company that made disposable masks. One day, his niece was with him while he tried recycling, and she asked him if his mask was also recyclable.
“I told him that we cannot recycle the mask,” he told Techcrunch. “She just interrupted me and said,” Oh, so you do a lot of waste every day. “”
The little girl’s lyrics stayed with Yu, and after sold the Mask Company in 2021, he decided to make amends.
In an effort to tame the problem of Healthcare’s single -use plastic, Yu’s new company, Okosix, has developed a new organic organic polymer based on organic. Okosix is part of the Startup battlefield, and he will show up at Techcrunch Disrupt later this month in San Francisco.
Okosix mixes various compounds, including cellulose, chitosan derived from crustacean shells, wax and an owner material. The result is cheaper than polylactic acid (PLA), a largely used biodegradable plastic, with “identical or even better than the APL”, said Yu.
Among the plastics, the term “biodegradability” is often poorly used, said Yu. Some require very specific conditions to decompose, while others are simply disintegrated into micro or nanoplastics.
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“We have international certifications to prove that the equipment has disappeared in six months,” said Yu.
Okosix starts with facial masks, but it also plans to make surgical dresses, layers and hygienic towels, said YU. “We want to use a safe, non -plastic material, to replace fossil plastics for disposable products.”
Although the company has not yet carried out an analysis of the formal life cycle, Yu said that the Okosix material should have a carbon footprint of 90% lower than that of polypropylene, a largely used single plastic.
Okosix sells its equipment to third parties, which then transform it into different products. “For the moment, our business model is like Gore-Tex,” said Yu. “We are not manufacturing finished products, but we do the layer, we manufacture raw materials, then we work with companies like 3M.” He added that the brand image could become an important part of the company, similar to Gore-Tex.
The startup has raised $ 2.3 million, including founders’ investment and other providential investors.
Hear more Okosix and dozens of other first -hand startups, participate in valuable workshops and establish lasting links during this year’s disruption, taking place from October 27 to 29 in San Francisco.
