Plastic waste breakthrough: Indian startup converts 4.5 million milk packets into designer furniture

By Faridat Salifu

In a quiet corner of Amritsar, a design-led plastics company is rewriting the script on one of India’s biggest environmental villains: plastic waste.

Sereno, a startup founded by architect-turned-entrepreneur Yuvraj Singh Ahuja, has transformed more than 4.5 million used milk packets—equivalent to 18 tonnes of single-use plastic—into sleek, high-end furniture and planters.

The company’s products now sit in five-star hotels and luxury homes around the world, proving that waste can be beautiful—and profitable.

“We don’t see waste,” says Ahuja. “We see raw material.”

India generates more than 3.4 million tonnes of plastic waste every year, much of it dumped in landfills or clogging rivers. While bans and clean-up campaigns struggle to keep pace, Sereno is attacking the problem from another angle: upcycling the trash before it becomes pollution.

Working with NGOs and zero-waste housing societies, Sereno intercepts milk bags, shampoo bottles, and other plastic packaging before it hits the dump.

The material is sorted, cleaned, shredded, and processed into granules, which are then moulded into products designed to survive over 20 years of sun, rain, and wear—and look good doing it.

At its Amritsar facility, powered in part by rooftop solar and run on biofuels made from forest waste, Sereno now manufactures up to 850 planters a day, alongside benches and outdoor furniture.

The products are not only 100% recyclable, but are also resistant to fading, cracking, or warping—traits essential for long-term durability in outdoor settings.

But the real genius lies in the seamless blend of sustainability and style.

“People can’t tell it’s made from discarded plastic,” says Delhi-based customer Charu Kapur, who filled her new home with 80 Sereno planters. “They look sleek, they’re strong—and even after a thunderstorm knocked them over, nothing broke.”

Sereno began in 2013 using virgin plastic. But by 2018, Ahuja had started experimenting with internal waste. The real pivot came after the COVID-19 pandemic, when European buyers began demanding a more serious sustainability approach.

Ahuja, inspired by recycling efforts in Europe, decided to crack India’s own waste problem.

“We weren’t just looking to reduce factory waste—we wanted to create impact at the household level,” he says.

The company has since been certified for ethical practices through a Sedex audit, replaced diesel furnaces with UN-approved biofuels, and is now pursuing a Global Recycling Certification, a rigorous process requiring full transparency on material traceability and energy use.

Recognition has followed. Sereno has won multiple European design awards—including one presented inside the Brussels Parliament—and remains the only Indian company in its category to do so.

Still, the ride hasn’t been smooth. Global shocks—from the war in Ukraine to disruptions at the Suez Canal and rising tensions on the India-Pakistan border—have put pressure on operations.

Night shifts at the Amritsar plant have been suspended for safety reasons. Yet the company continues to ship to clients in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Japan, and Australia.

Now, Sereno is gearing up to enter new categories like automotive furniture and other durable goods made entirely from recycled plastic.

For aspiring green entrepreneurs, Ahuja offers a warning: “Don’t just chase the sustainability tag. Do your homework. Be accountable. Open your books.”

• Hi At a time when the world is scrambling to reduce plastic pollution, Sereno is showing how innovation, design, and circular thinking can turn one of the planet’s biggest threats into an engine of value and beauty.