Saving the earth with degradable shopping bags

[SINGAPORE] In just two years, Indonesian social entrepreneur Sugianto Tandio became the largest maker of degradable plastic bags using proprietary technology he developed, supplying to major retailers including Carrefour and Giant hypermart in his native country, as well as Mall of America, one of the largest shopping malls in the United States.

Mr Tandio, president director of Indonesian plastic bag producer PT Tirta Marta, has now set his sights on Singapore, besides other places, and recently began supplying degradable bags to a handful of retailers including Bata, CK Tang, Raoul, Eu Yan Sang and Royal Sporting House.

Ecoplas bags (made of cassava) and Oxium bags (which include a natural additive to plastic resin that quickens the degrading process) are his brainchild. Mr Tandio, whose family business has been in plastics manufacturing since 1971, began in 2000 to steer his company towards developing sustainable packaging technology to replace tradi…