THE Scots inventors behind what’s said to be the world’s first plant-based water bottle say it’s a s'wheat solution to plastic pollution.
It’s taken Jake Elliott-Hook and Amee Ritchie two years to make their idea for a re-usable bottle made from plant waste into a sellable product under their company, s’wheat. The East Lothian duo developed a brand new material made from bamboo waste and wheat straw.
The vegetation – which would have otherwise been incinerated – is cleaned and stripped into individual fibres before being compressed together and undergoing a vacuum-moulding process without any toxic glues. The result is tough, leak-proof, insulated and biodegradable – it’ll break down naturally if it ever hits landfill and the bottles are uniquely double-ended for easy cleaning, something the company hopes will put it ahead of many existing reusable products.
The Tranent pair, aged 24 and 22, say it’s “revolutionary” and are preparing for the product’s online launch on May 19. It will come after the team’s concept won almost £21,500 backing in a crowdfunder – 230% of that sought – and as Scotland continues to open up again after a year of lockdowns.
With more people making journeys again, sales of single-use plastic bottles are expected to increase. Less than one third of all plastic in the UK is currently recycled, according to estimates, with plastics making up 80% of all ocean debris.
Elliott-Hook, who studied psychology at Queen Margaret University, said: “The idea came from when I was in lectures and everybody had their own reusable bottle, but two weeks later they’d bring in another one because the old one was hard to clean and had gotten smelly.
“Those plastic and steel bottles all have their own problems and aren’t recyclable, so they just end up in landfill. Our plan is to be huge – we want to get the bottle everywhere we can. We can make so many products with this material.”
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