By Grace Ademulegun
Siddharth A K’s early visits to Thiruvananthapuram with his mother sparked his passion for Kerala’s beaches. Memories of shoreline cleanups, a custom his mother started to maintain the beaches immaculate, flooded these visits.
Siddharth maintained the cleanup efforts after she passed away because he felt a strong connection to these beaches, but he quickly came to the conclusion that merely picking up plastic debris wasn’t sufficient.
He claims that even though he cleaned the beach once a week, the rubbish was back when he arrived the following day.
“It became evident that a more comprehensive solution was required,” he said.
Kerala produces over 450 tonnes of plastic garbage every day, 70 percent of which ends up in the sea due to its 590 kilometres of coastline.
Siddharth was prompted to consider options other than cleanup campaigns by this concerning reality. He adds, “Accountability and appropriate recycling are necessary.”
He then set out to transform plastic garbage into something beneficial. In order to research plastic garbage and its possibilities for recycling, Siddharth relocated to Delhi.
In 2022, he founded Carbon & Whale, a clean-tech company that recycles plastic into useful products like paver tiles and benches, with pals Sooraj Verma, a professor at the Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering & Technology, and Alvin George.
“This project consumed all of my savings,” Siddharth acknowledges, adding, “Believing in the mission, I took the chance, even though I had no dependents or liabilities.”
The three worked on the process of converting plastic garbage into long-lasting items for two years. In order to gather separated plastic debris, they first worked with nearby non-profits and schools.
Before being recycled into things like plant pots, paver tiles, public benches, keychains, earrings, and other goods, the waste was first separated based on its type and quality.
Their objective was to develop sustainable solutions that would not only lessen the amount of plastic waste but also educate young people about the value of recycling.
According to Siddharth, “children are the seeds of our future. They will create a better tomorrow if we raise them with the proper values.”
With their interlocking paver tiles and public seats placed in shopping centres, train stations, and public areas, the company’s products have already had an impact in Bengaluru and Kerala.
One special benefit of their products, according to Alvin, is that the benches don’t rust like metal ones, and the paver tiles are stronger than concrete.They can be recycled once more in the event that something occurs to them. Unlike timber furniture, the plastic goods are also termite-resistant.
10,000 kg of plastic garbage have been prevented from ending up in landfills and the oceans thanks to Carbon & Whale, and the company’s current #Declutter initiative intends to eliminate one million kg of plastic waste from Kerala.
“3,000 plastic waste items have been transformed into benches,” Siddharth says, adding, “Even though 3,000 isn’t much in comparison to our objective, we’re determined to keep working.”
Alvin said: “Assuring accountability and traceability through business-to-business (B2B) transactions is one of the company’s primary initiatives. Selling directly to customers causes us to lose control. “B2B allows us to monitor the products and make sure they don’t wind up in landfills.”
Funding of Rs 15 lakh has been raised for their initiatives through grants from the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation and the Kerala Startup Mission.
Since its founding, the company’s revenue has grown significantly, rising from Rs 67,000 to Rs 4 crore annually.
Carbon & Whale intends to add dustbins and public restrooms to their product line as they look to the future, helping Kerala achieve its objective of a cleaner, more sustainable environment.
Siddharth’s goal extends beyond achieving financial prosperity. With sorrow in his voice, he says, “Cleanup drives became my way of staying connected to my mother after she passed away. As she always taught me, turning grief into purpose and giving back to the earth is what we do at Carbon & Whale, and it feels like her legacy.”
Siddharth, Sooraj, and Alvin have transformed a personal tragedy into a purposeful endeavour through Carbon & Whale, combating plastic pollution while paying tribute to their Keralan heritage.
Their efforts demonstrate that local heroes don’t need capes; instead, they require courage, passion, and tenacity to transform obstacles into chances for progress.
