Vineeta Rao
Auckland, February 7, 2025
While water is the spirit of life, the plastic bottles, in which it is usually bottled, are the bane of environmentalists everywhere.
Contributing to the alarming rates of global plastic pollution, it has, until recently, seemed like a problem without a solution.
A small start-up in India’s southernmost state of Kerala may have a solution.
The venture, supported by the Kerala Irrigation Infrastructure Development Corporation (KIIDC), is launching eco-friendly organic water bottles this year. Also called ‘compostable water bottles,’ the bottles are produced from starch found in materials like corn and sugarcane.
The bottles are transparent and resemble plastic bottles in appearance but recent tests show that they decompose in soil within six months. They also do not create further pollution when incinerated. The packaging, including the cap and label, will also be biodegradable.
All phases of the supply chain, including raw materials, are bio-degradable and have acquired the necessary certifications from domestic as well as global agencies. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan launched the bottles last month.
About the Company
KIIDC is a wholly state owned company that is set up for the promotion and development of medium, large scale and micro irrigation projects in the State. The aim of the KIIDC is to provide comprehensive support for investors through facilitating constant interaction between the Government and the irrigation sector.
The project for biodegradable bottles got underway when Roshy Augustine, Kerala’s Minister for Water Resources spotted a prototype developed by start-up Green Bio Products at an exhibition in Mumbai in 2019. Marketed under the brand name ‘Hilly Aqua,’ the bottles will be manufactured by the KIIDC at their Thodupuzha and Aruvikkara plants using bio-foam provided by the startup 8 Specialists.
The bottles will initially be manufactured in the one-litre size and will be marketed in high-footfall areas such as tourism hotspots and festival venues.
Eventually, it will be rolled out to the rest of the state.
Consumer-Friendly
The innovation does not stop here. The water within the bottles too is better for the environment and end-consumers. Given the alarming levels of water pollution, surface water is preferred over groundwater as it is readily available, easily accessible and easier to monitor for quality. Groundwater often tends to have mineral impurities from rock formations as it flows.
KIIDC has set up a fully automated plant at Aruvikkara near the State Capital Thiruvananthapuram, which applies a stringent eight-stage purification and decontamination process before bottling.
This water is currently being bottled in regular plastic bottles and sold at subsidized rates.
Hilly Aqua is part of the Water Resources Department’s mandate to ensure clean potable water to all the residents of the state. Bottled drinking water is a high-demand product among tourists and locals alike for a variety of reasons and prices can sometimes be astronomical, especially in the peak of summer.
Affordable Prices
Hilly Aqua is an attempt by the State government to keep prices reasonable and ensure adequate supply. In fact, once operational, Kerala will become the first state to launch a compostable water bottle, setting the benchmark high for sustainability.
The biodegradable bottles are expected to be significantly more expensive than regular 1-litre plastic bottles which typically retail between ₹ 15 (30 Cents) and ₹10 (20 Cents), while 20-litre bottles are sold at ₹60 ($1.20). (Source: Kaumudi Online).
Plastic pollution is currently at crisis levels, with almost 2000 truckloads worth of plastic being dumped into oceans, rivers and waterways. While 460 million metric tons of plastic are manufactured every year, an estimated 20 million metric tons of plastic litter ends up in the environment each year, affecting all land, freshwater and marine ecosystems, contributing to ecosystem degradation, biosystem loss and climate change.
While environmentalists prepare to join the battle to get their respective governments to sign a plastic ban treaty, initiatives such as this one by the KIIDC may receive public patronage.
Vineeta Rao is an Indian Newslink Reporter based in Auckland.
