Embracing and eliminating plastic: Two startups’ opposing paths to easier green living

While single-use plastic offers convenience – from coffee cups and sandwich wrappings to takeaway lunch boxes and grocery packaging – its lasting effects on the environment cannot be ignored. 

Often used briefly, these plastics take years to decompose, breaking down into microplastics that infiltrate oceans, the food chain and eventually human bodies. 

What if there is a way to reduce plastic waste and transform it into something useful? 

That’s where Plana (short for “plastic for nature”) comes in. Indonesia-based Plana, was founded by plastics industry insiders who saw an opportunity in plastic’s greatest liability: its near indestructible durability. 

By combining rice husks, single-use plastics and a proprietary binding material, Plana – short for plastic for nature – creates PlanaWood, a sustainable alternative to natural wood. It is a long-lasting and market-ready construction material suitable for a variety of consumers. The company’s innovative approach to sustainability has earned it recognition as a 2024 Emerging Enterprise Award winner. 

Moving from problem to solution

Joshua Christopher Chandra, Plana’s co-founder and chief of sustainability, saw the potential in plastic. His family is in the durable plastics industry, manufacturing plastic parts for air-conditioners and automobiles. In his early career in the family business, he saw first-hand how plastic is made in injector factories, and how it was a useful, durable material.

At the same time, Chandra struggled with the images of single-use plastics polluting the environment. “Plastic is not all bad – the problem is single-use plastic,” says Chandra. By recycling single-use plastic as a raw material, PlanaWood creates an avenue to reduce plastic pollution and create new life from consumer and agricultural waste.  

Jlynn Chen is another entrepreneur who reflected on her industry’s use of plastic. Having spent 20 years as a beauty product distributor, she saw how plastic is widely used in beauty product packaging. Plastic is commonly used to package products in cream, serum and gel forms. 

“Beauty products are 80 to 90 per cent water. Shampoos and shower gels are 80 to 90 per cent water. It’s such a waste of a precious resource to produce transport products this way and transport them globally. The more successful I was (in the distribution business), the more I sold, the more I contributed to the plastic pandemic problem,” Chen observes. 

At the root of the problem was the lack of sustainable products in the market. Chen realised she couldn’t find many efficient, plastic-free personal care products. “Even if consumers want to choose sustainable products, there aren’t any available for them in the market,” she says. 

In 2021, she was moved to act after watching a documentary about plastic waste recycling. From the documentary, she learned that out of 140 tonnes of plastic waste collected, only two tonnes were fit for recycling. “In Singapore, only one tonne in 400 tonnes of plastic waste is recycled. We are a small and developed country, and yet this is our result,” she adds. 

Spurred by years of frustration with the status quo and inspired to leave a better world for her children, Chen founded The Powder Shampoo. 

The Powder Shampoo, a finalist in the 2024 Emerging Enterprise Award, tackles plastic and water consumption through its line of powdered shampoos and body washes. 

Because there is no water in the product formulation, its products are lightweight and do not require plastic packaging. The product, encased in infinitely recyclable aluminium, is efficient to ship and convenient to travel with. 

Compared to traditional liquid shampoos, The Powder Shampoo delivers 10 times more washes per unit. Thanks to Chen’s professional experience with hair products, the research and development phase took less than a year. 

Building a sustainable alternative to wood

The Plana team, on the other hand, took five years to develop PlanaWood. Their goal was to create a compelling product, which can replace natural wood as a construction material. As a result of their extensive development, PlanaWood is durable, mouldable, water- and fireproof, and resilient to termites, rot and extreme weather. 

Based in Tangerang, Java, Plana was able to source their raw materials from the local economy: rice husks from farmers and discarded single-use plastic from waste collectors. With a new factory running since June 2024, Plana can produce 4200 decking units of PlanaWood per month. 

When designing PlanaWood, the founders emphasised the aesthetics of the product. “If it looks like plastic or doesn’t look good, people won’t like it. This is something people will have in their homes,” notes Chandra. 

Plana also partnered with other companies and artists to showcase PlanaWood as an attractive, innovative and cost-competitive product. They put up collaborative exhibitions featuring PlanaWood being used in outdoor decking, indoor panelling and art installations.

Their efforts have paid off. Plana has won several awards for PlanaWood, including the Korean-ASEAN Business Model Competition. Regional construction companies have also taken notice of PlanaWood’s potential in their projects, with a special interest in how it can contribute to their clients’ environmental targets.  

In the World Expo 2025 in Osaka, Plana would have another chance to shine. The Indonesian government has invited Plana to build the Indonesian Pavilion using PlanaWood as a locally sourced and distinctive Indonesian product.

Turning expertise into eco-innovation 

Plana’s achievements underscore the power of innovative thinking in addressing environmental challenges. This same spirit of eco-innovation and determination is echoed in Chen’s journey to create The Powder Shampoo.

“I do not have to go through levels of approval and it helps that I have over 20 years experience in this industry hence I am able to adjust the formula to the quality I desire very swiftly. I didn’t have many levels of approval,” says Chen. This also helped the product to be formulated quickly within a few months. 

She also formed her own Focus Groups to gather consumer insights and conduct product trials. By asking friends from all over the world for help, she tested her product with a variety of test subjects globally, considering different levels of water hardness and varying scalp and hair conditions.

The Powder Shampoo has since seen promising growth, with sales in 40 international markets since its incorporation in April 2022. 

From an idea in 2021, Chen marvels at the progress she has made. It’s a reminder that every great journey starts with a single step of courage. It affirms her belief that profits and the planet can co-exist.