Paper Seed Co. makes biodegradable seed masks | Fusion - WeRIndia

Now that face masks are mandatory for people, several companies are coming up with innovative masks.

A Karnataka company has made biodegradable masks. Paper Seed Co., a social enterprise from Mangaluru, Karnataka, made an eco-friendly mask.

The company has been making different recycled and plant seed goods for the last four years. It started experimenting on an eco-friendly mask after the prevalence of COVID-19 in the country. The face mask is one of the most essential things now. At the same time, single-use disposable masks are creating litter. Hence, the company wants to make a biodegradable face mask to help people and protect the environment.

The founder of Paper Seed Co., Nitin Vas, said that the face mask is made from recycled cloth material, which is collected from the garment industry. The mask has two layers. While the inner layer is made from soft cotton cloth, the outer layer is made from cotton pulp collected from scrap cloth material.

This two-layered mask is thick enough to protect from the infection of COVID-19.  The company has skill in embedding plant seeds in the paper. It used the same technology in cotton material as well. These masks can grow into plants after their disposal as they are embedded with plant seeds.

The cost of the face mask is ₹25 per piece, which is expensive in terms of money. However, the company says that the masks are handmade and involved tedious labour work. Considering the difficult manufacturing process and the impact of masks on the environment, the products are worth buying.

Before the nationwide lockdown, the company had around 300 people to work on different products. However, lockdown impacted their business. Now, they have around 30 people working on various products. As their products contain seeds, they cannot be stored for a long time. That’s why they discarded many products which they could not deliver during the lockdown.

Image Credit: Paperseedco on Facebook

Image Reference: https://www.facebook.com/paperseedco/photos/a.510246532725429/1207045936378815/