Water Hyacinths are known worldwide for their invasiveness. Plastics, too, are known for this same issue, albeit in an artificial lens compared to Water Hyacinths. These two issues have seen an unusual crossover, as biodegradable plastics are beginning to be made from Water Hyacinths.
The Damages of Water Hyacinths and Plastics
Maintaining this species costs an estimated $150 million annually in the United States alone, but in larger, more affected countries, like China, the annual cost can reach up to $1 Billion. From 1975 to 2020, this single species incurred roughly $32 billion in costs.
African countries incur up to $100 million in damage annually due to fisheries losses and general water quality issues from Water Hyacinths, meaning that their agricultural developments see significant yield losses due to this single aquatic weed alone.
A problem that overshadows the Water Hyacinth problem is global plastic pollution, more and more plastic enters the
ecosystem and our bodies.
It takes plastic anywhere from 50 to 100 years to decompose. Given that only a small percentage is recycled–around 9%–and the majority enter landfills and ecosystems, our constant creation of these plastics wreaks havoc on our biosphere.
HyaPak Ecotech, a Kenyan company, has created the first standardized 100% biodegradable plastics derived from Water Hyacinths. These plastics are in the form of your typical wrappers, straws, plates, etc. and biodegrade in 3 to 12 months.
The Company With a Solution
CEO of Hyapak Joseph Nguthiru would add “Some while back, my classmates and I got stuck in Lake Naivasha during a class trip, and I picked up the research on water hyacinth for my final year engineering project. Later on, after school, the project got much attention and evolved into a startup.”
Within the challenges of water hyacinths, they saw a spark of hope. Within that hope, they both create jobs for their local communities along with plastics that are used by many different organizations and people alike internationally.
“The local community fishermen do harvesting. This way, we also create green jobs for them and create additional income. Since water hyacinth is an invasive weed that also affects their regular fishing, navigation, and other activities, the removal creates a huge benefit for them.” Nguthiru added
Hyapak has effectively made something that hurts the salary of a local Kenyan fisherman into something that has the capacity to recompensate these impoverished local farmers for the amount lost.
Nguthiru continued, “We harvest the water hyacinth from affected water bodies. The two main affected lakes in Kenya are Lake Victoria and Lake Naivasha. We source from Lake Naivasha since it’s closer to Nairobi.”
They, too, hold true to their sustainable perspective by not relying on private farms whatsoever. They rather opt for the more sustainable option of the aforementioned – supporting the local economy and reducing the global issue into an alternative more sustainable than the typical plastic.
On the topic of who some of their buyers are, Nguthiru would note that “Some of our clients include One Acre Fund, and Plant Village based in Penn State University.” One Acre Fund and Plant Village are organizations devoted to helping African farmers. Plant Village aims their efforts towards preparing African farmers for climate change – ensuring that they can minimize the catastrophic events as best they can. One Acre Fund, similarly, helps provide relief to farmers as well but their area of expertise stretches from farm supplies to training, financial literacy, insurance, and more. Africa only recycles around 4% of their waste. Packaging from these organizations’ relief might be inadvertently harmful to the environment around the farmers, which could further plunge the farmers into an agricultural hole. However, because of Hyapak, they’re able to ensure that this doesn’t happen, and instead that the plastic sustainably and safely degrades.
Soon, Hyapak seems to be looking to expand outward, past their clients within the United States and Germany. Nguthiru would add that they are exploring partnerships with countries also affected by water hyacinth. Those being India, El Salvador, Mexico, and South Africa.
As Hyapak continues to expand its operations, the worry about agricultural, environmental, and conservation losses of both Water Hyacinths and plastics is significantly eased.
