UpRoot

Plastic waste has been a hot topic for a long time for good reason. More than 400 million tons of plastic waste is produced worldwide each year; 80 percent of which is not recycled. That un-recycled plastic haunts the environment for thousands of years.

Uproot chose to attack this problem head on by revolutionizing the food takeout container industry, which produces a large slice of the total plastic waste in circulation today.

They knew they had to figure out how to produce a quality product at a price competitive to that of plastic because no matter how environmentally conscious you may be as an individual, the grocery stores and restaurants that generate most of the plastic waste in the world care first and foremost about finding the right combination of quality and price. Current alternatives fall short on both fronts, which leads these businesses to chose plastic even when they are aware of the negative environmental impact of that decision.

With team members from Taiwan, a massive manufacturing hub, and Paraguay, a country with a sustainable source of plant-based materials currently going to waste, Uproot envisions their company being a link between their two homes. Cassava, a root vegetable native to Paraguay, will be sent to Taiwan, manufactured into a variety of takeout containers, straws, and other single-use plastics, and sold to businesses around the world.

Uproot is confident their product is the best plastic alternative because it looks, feels, and acts like the plastic the world is already used to using. Their business model places environmental and impact at its core, with every kilo of UpRoot’s bioplastic preventing:

• One kilo of single-use plastics being produced.

• Two kilos of cassava from ending up in the landfill.

• Three kilos of carbon emissions from entering the atmosphere.

Join them in UpRooting the system by visiting their website and Instagram!