Can these 3 startups save the environment?

These projects demonstrate how creativity and technology can come together to address the ecological challenges of our time, reusing waste materials and reducing environmental impact in strategic sectors such as packaging and waste management.

TATOhugs: biodegradable packaging made from potato peels

One startup that particularly struck us was TATOhugs , a project that combines environmental sustainability and creativity, transforming food waste into a useful and biodegradable product. The underlying idea is simple yet powerful: reusing potato peels to create sustainable packaging, specifically designed for the food industry and events like festivals, where the use of single-use plastic is still extremely high.

We researched festivals and their pollution and waste, and how much plastic ends up on the ground. One of our colleagues had the idea. At first, it was just a school project, but then we decided to enter this competition.

The material used is the result of extensive experimentation. In addition to potato peels, shredded tissue paper is used, along with a compound called RTA cellulose , which helps regulate humidity and ensures flexibility and durability.

“In the future we also plan to add a chemical compound to further improve the product.”

The choice of raw material is no coincidence: the peels come from a Romanian company, “Freshmix,” which decided to collaborate with the team by providing potato scraps. In this way, the project also takes on a circular economy dimension, valorizing a material that would otherwise be thrown away. From an environmental standpoint, the effectiveness is remarkable.

“For festivals, where there’s a lot of waste on the ground, our product is completely biodegradable and disappears within a day if watered into the soil. Furthermore, it’s non-toxic to animals.”

The ability to customize packaging for different types of foods—such as chips or snacks—makes it suitable for a wide variety of contexts, and the team is already looking at new applications and future developments.

Turning wool waste into comfort and care

Every year, large quantities of wool are thrown away or burned, despite it being neither biodegradable nor highly flammable. This waste represents an often overlooked environmental problem. Woolish, a company founded in Montenegro, offers a concrete solution: transforming wool into useful, innovative, and sustainable products . Pillows and toys made from this natural material become comfort items, but also a way to make the planet cleaner .

Woolish , however, is not limited to environmental sustainability. One of its most significant projects is the creation of multisensory pillows designed for children on the autism spectrum . These pillows are designed to offer a calming and reassuring experience, combining the softness of wool with the scent of lavender, soft lighting, and relaxing melodies. The goal is to help children feel safer, calmer, and sleep better. The project therefore addresses two problems simultaneously: on the one hand, it reduces wool waste , preventing it from being treated as waste and burned, which damages the ecosystem; on the other, it offers concrete support for the well-being of children with special needs , improving the quality of life of their families as well.

Woolish also promotes local production, the use of natural resources, and community empowerment through craftsmanship and education. Each product has both functional and emotional value, contributing to a more inclusive and environmentally friendly society.