Indian Company Turns Plastic Bags Into Sunglasses

Theoretically, any kind of plastic can be recycled. But that is not the way things are in reality. Even though recycling every type of plastic is possible, doing so isn't practical. Take the plastic bags that hold potato chips and pretzels. They usually wind up in landfills or incinerators. But in India, there is a company that turns them into sunglasses.

If you are the type of person who prefers innovation over constantly criticizing the plastics industry, turning plastic potato chip bags into a usable consumer product makes a lot of sense. No doubt the company behind the potato chip sunglasses isn't going to solve the plastic problem on its own. But every little bit helps. Every innovative solution that keeps plastic out of landfills is worth promoting.

Picking Through the Trash in Search of Bags

The company in question is known as Ashaya. More than just a sunglasses manufacturer, Ashaya exists as a socially conscious enterprise with a mission to turn waste into usable products. Their sunglasses are only possible thanks to an army of workers that sifts through mountains of trash in search of plastic bags.

Those workers happily collect trash throughout the city of Pune and bring it back to the company's facilities. The trash is picked through in search of the coveted plastic bags. Everything else is discarded. As for the bags, they are reduced to plastic pellets that are molded into eyewear frames through standard injection mold processes.

Each pair of the company sunglasses is made from up to five discarded plastic bags. What comes out at the other end of the process looks like a standard pair of wayfarers with a matte black finish. The sunglasses are every bit as stylish as something you might find in a typical American boutique.

Lots of Creative Solutions Out There

Ashaya will probably never be able to export their sunglasses to the West and still make a profit doing so. But they should be able to make plenty of money in India. That's great. What they are doing is just one example of the many creative solutions out there. Turning plastic bags into sunglasses proves there are viable ways to keep plastic waste out of landfills.

The question for the rest of us is whether we will support such innovative projects. Here in the U.S., it is possible to buy all sorts of things made with recycle plastic. For example, did you know that recycled PET water bottles are routinely transformed into carpets, fabrics, and other items?

Doing so is made possible by companies like Tennessee-based Seraphim Plastics, companies that collect PET bottles, reduce them to a regrind material, and sell that material to manufacturers. The material is combined with virgin plastic to make all sorts of items.

Not a Perfect Solution

Reducing plastic waste to pellets or flakes involves something known as mechanical recycling. It is true that mechanical recycling has its weaknesses. One such weakness is its tendency to reduce the integrity of the plastic. That is why manufacturers need to mix regrind with virgin plastic. Nonetheless, regrind is still a worthwhile manufacturing material.

Avoiding mechanical recycling because it is not a perfect solution doesn't make sense. There is no perfect solution to the plastic problem. What will eventually solve the problem is embracing innovation in whatever form it takes. If that means turning plastic potato chip bags into sunglasses and used water bottles into carpet, so be it. Every creative solution that puts a small dent in the problem will ultimately pave the way to solving it once and for all.