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Imagine a world without plastic straws.
That's the idea behind Doris Woitschach, a student at National Chengchi University's College of Commerce in Taiwan who came up with the idea for UpRoot, a company that makes biodegradable, compostable, and zero-waste drinking straws, Quartz reports.
According to Forbes, 3 billion plastic straws are used in Taiwan each year.
UpRoot's goal is to prevent 2.8 tons of plastic waste and save 2.3 tons of cassava root from being discarded.
Cassava is a staple in Africa, Latin America, and Asia, and it's used to make everything from flour to soap.
But it's not just cassava that's being used to create UpRoot's straws.
"Every kilo of our product will replace a kilo of plastic and reclaim similar numbers of wasted cassava produce," says Woitschach, who launched the company with co-founders Jessica Gonzalez and JE Lu in 2021.
The company's straws are made from 100% cassava, and the peels are compostable and can be used to make other products, such as toilet paper and flour.
The company plans to use $150,000 in seed money from the 2021 Hult Prizea global contest that challenges university students to tackle social problems with their businessto expand into
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