Start-up produces cups that can be eaten after use

This unique product is made from seaweed that tastes like jelly with a mint or green tea flavor.

The product promises to cut down on plastic waste in the future. Photo: Evoware

Ong Tek Tjan's restaurant in Indonesia recently started selling ice cream in cups that can be eaten right away instead of being thrown away.

This is the idea of ​​a start-up called Evoware, Indonesia, with the goal of creating cups or other containers from chemical-free seaweed to change the habit of using plastic packaging products that are causing serious environmental pollution.

"I fully support this environmentally friendly idea," Mr. Ong Tek Tjan shared withBusiness Insider.

Currently, his store is cooperating to use Evoware cups to serve ice cream, although he knows it will take time for consumers to adapt to this new product because the price is higher than plastic cups.

David Christian, co-founder of Evoware, said he came up with the idea of ​​using seaweed to package or store food and drinks after witnessing the explosive pollution in his hometown of Jakarta, home to about 10 million people.

"It takes about 100 years or even 1,000 years for the plastic waste here to decompose," Christian added.

Evoware's products certainly have great potential for development as Indonesia currently produces about 10 million tons of seaweed per year and aims to reach 19 million tons by 2020.

From its first seaweed jelly cups, Evoware is expanding to other products, such as compostable coffee and spice bags.

However, Evoware products are currently mainly handmade, making it difficult to produce in large quantities. In addition, Ello Jello ice cream cups made from seaweed can be 5 times more expensive than plastic products.

Therefore, Evoware still has a lot of work to do to make seaweed cups competitive with current plastic products.

According to TTO