‘As strong as plastic bags’: Aussie startup wins eco award for bag that dissolves in water

An Australian eco-tech startup that created a plastic-free bag that dissolves in hot water in seconds and breaks down in the earth within months has beaten 900 others to win Bupa’s Eco-Disruptive Sustainability Award 2023, which comes as Coles announces its final deadline for plastic bags.

Sydney-based Cassava Bags Australia’s net zero range of plastic-free, non-toxic bags are made from cassava starch, a flour-like nutty powder created from drying and grounding a cassava root vegetable (which is also used to make tapioca flour).

Cassava Bags Australia’s “president of purpose” Bruce Rossi said the cassava is added to organic components including plant-based bio-resin to make a biodegradable film that is “as strong and durable as traditional plastic bags, but without the harmful environmental impact”.

The range extends to bin liners, pet waste bags and mail-out bags, with customers in sectors including retail, medical and manufacturing, Rossi adds, while demand is only growing with international orders pouring in.

It comes as Coles announced this week it would phase out soft-plastic shopping bags in-store and online by the end of June, predicted to remove some 230 million plastic bags from circulation in Australia within a year.

Rival Woolworths has removed its 15-cent bags from stores across Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Northern Territory outlets, and confirmed the remainder of states and territory would lose the bags by June.

Coles Group chief operations and sustainability officer Matt Swindells said the most sustainable option for customers was to bring reusable bags to the supermarket, but recycled paper bags would still be available for 25c.

Congratulations to Cassava Bags Australia and Team Terra from Australia who were voted by Bupa colleagues as winners of our eco-Disruptive programme💚

Huge well done to each participant and start-up who have all worked with such energy and enthusiasm over the last seven months! pic.twitter.com/3DD1jsdAX3

— Cassava Bags (@CassavaBags) February 20, 2023

Cassava Bags Australia was founded by millennial mates Chun Lau, Telusa Mapapalangi, and Rossi after the trio noticed the constant plastic accumulation on camping, surfing and snowboarding trips — in the ocean and on land.

“Experiencing first-hand the impact of pollution on the planet we decided to ensure we played a role in promoting the sustainability of Australia and the world — and so commenced our journey of research and development and Cassava Bags Australia was born,” Lau said.

“Our products have been tested by internationally recognised companies as a plastic-free and biodegradable product. For example, it would only take three to six months for our bags to biodegrade in soil, or just a few days to dissolve in the ocean. They can even be safely consumed by marine animals!”

It’s not the first award for Cassava Bags Australia — the company also won Bupa’s 2022 global eco-Disruptive program securing over $350,000 in funding to grow their business, which Rossi said would go towards “champion bold new initiatives across the consumer, business and healthcare sectors”.

Cassava Bags Australia’s second funding round via Birchal is hoping to raise $5 million with an appeal to investors about tackling the plastic crisis while cashing in on the global green technology and sustainability market, forecast to grow to $417.35 billion by 2030.

“With our second round of fundraising through Birchal, we’re offering investors the chance to be a part of the solution to the global plastic problem and contribute to a more sustainable future for all,” Rossi said.

And it seems the push to purge the country of plastic is already seeing positive results. Last June, the CSIRO reported that plastic pollution littering the coast had fallen by 29% compared to 2013.

That month, single-use plastic bags were banned completely in NSW — the last state to do so — some 13 years after South Australia pioneered the ban in Australia and about five years since Victoria did likewise.