By repurposing over 28 varieties of waste, ranging from coffee husk and cardboard to sugarcane bagasse and even Ayurvedic tablets, The Mend Packaging, a sustainable packaging firm primarily based in India, managed by Rhea Kothari and Rishika Reddy, is crafting distinctive present containers. The crew works from New York and Hyderabad. That just isn’t all. The firm can also be experimenting with banana leather-based, made from fibres extracted from banana crop waste, to create eco-conscious packaging options.
Rhea Kothari, who holds a Bachelor’s diploma in Economics with a double minor in Psychology and Sociology from Columbia University, leads advertising and marketing, gross sales, and programme administration at The Mend Packaging. Before founding the corporate, she labored at a startup accelerator in New York, adopted by a stint in her household’s jewelry enterprise the place she juggled a number of roles and gained first hand expertise in operating a small enterprise. “I was interested in implementing greener practices in both my personal and professional life. I had pushed for sustainable packaging in our family business well before The Mend began, and eventually started exploring ways to take it further,” Rhea shares.
Works of The Mend Packaging
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Special Arrangement
Rishika Reddy oversees administration, operations, and finance. Prior to co-founding the corporate, she labored with an electrical transportation options supplier as a part of the CEO’s workplace, the place she gained perception into cross-functional operations in a startup surroundings. “Packaging felt like a natural progression,” she explains. “My family has been running a printing press for over four decades, so it’s something I’ve grown up around.”
Some of the generally used supplies of their packaging embrace recycled corrugated board, bioplastic, and inflexible board. Rhea elaborates, “Corrugated boards, made from recycled dry waste, are ideal for logistics and shipping since they’re designed to withstand wear and tear. Bioplastic is derived from a biopolymer of corn starch. Our rigid board is constructed from layered recycled material and offers a more premium finish.”
Before onboarding any new materials, the corporate follows a stringent course of. It begins with figuring out rising supplies out there and assessing their foundational attributes — shelf life, printing capabilities, storage necessities, manufacturing timelines, and potential “side effects” that would have an effect on the product it’s meant to accommodate. Timelines differ relying on the fabric’s viability.
These modern efforts are steadily pushing the boundaries of what might be repurposed from waste—and reimagined as design-forward, sustainable packaging.
Why terraform and banana fibre?
Terraform and banana fibre have lengthy been recognised as modern supplies throughout varied industries, however their integration into packaging has been a fancy journey, one which calls for specialised experience. Rhea explains, “At The Mend Packaging, we’ve been able to adapt these materials specifically for packaging solutions with the help of expert material innovators.”
“Our research and development efforts conducted in close collaboration with material scientists, polymer experts, and packaging technologists have been instrumental in evolving terraform and vegan leathers into commercially viable packaging materials. The transition from concept to market-ready product has involved extensive testing, prototyping, and iterative refinement, ensuring these materials are not only sustainable but also practical and scalable for broader industry adoption,” she provides.
Some of The Mend Packaging merchandise
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Special Arrangement
While recycling does eat water and vitality, the general advantages usually outweigh the prices when in comparison with producing supplies from virgin sources, Rhea explains. She breaks down the fundamentals. “Recycling reduces the need for raw material extraction, which means less mining, logging, and drilling — activities that are often destructive to ecosystems. The energy and water used in recycling are significantly lower than what’s required to process raw materials. It also helps reduce landfill waste, which not only saves space but also cuts down methane emissions from decomposing materials, which is a major contributor to climate change. Also, recycling supports a circular system where materials are reused, reducing our reliance on finite natural resources and fostering long-term sustainability.”
Published – May 21, 2025 05:32 pm IST
