In Mexico, tons of avocado stones that were thrown away each day in the world’s largest avocado center, are now being used to produce biobased cutlery and drinking straws by BIOFASE and other companies that are converting waste to valuable bioplastics. Scott Munguia, founder of Mexican company BIOFASE, told Reuters that “The whole world is changing – people are starting to ask for this.”
Some Mexican states are outlawing the use of plastic bags and polystyrene which is helping boost demand for bioplastics, Carlos Camacho Vivar, founder of Ecoshell told Reuters. But authorities need to understand the difference between products, he added. Ecoshell’s products are made from sugarcane and corn starch which break down in months instead of hundreds of years for traditional plastic.