Twelve environmental startups have been awarded as the winners of the Asia Pacific Low Carbon Lifestyles Challenge, receiving $10,000 seed money to make their ideas reality.

The winners hail from China, Bhutan, the Philippines, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Samoa, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Winners received awards in three categories: Low carbon mobility, plastic waste, and energy efficiency.

24 March 2018 - Twelve environmentalists in the Asia-Pacific region have won US$10,000 each to support their energy-efficient, low-waste, and low-carbon business ideas.

The winners of the Asia Pacific Low Carbon Lifestyles Challenge are from China, Bhutan, the Philippines, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Samoa, Sri Lanka and Thailand. As well as the start-up funding, the winners, selected across three categories of mobility, plastic waste, and energy efficiency also receive mentoring and support.

UN Environment’s Director for the Asia-Pacific region, Dechen Tsering, said, “From plastic waste to climate change, we who live in Asia and the Pacific are confronting environmental challenges face-to-face almost daily. The natural ingenuity we find across our region is the key to solving these problems.”

The winning project address a variety of sustainability challenges across the region, offering innovative solutions for local, regional or even global environmental issues.

Plastic waste

In the plastic waste category, Samoan national Angelica Salele got awarded for her project producing reusable cotton feminine hygiene products. Disposable feminine sanitary pads contribute to household waste across the globe and put a strain on the Pacific island’s waste management systems. The cotton pads will dramatically reduce the cost and waste impacts of female hygiene products.

Pratvadee (Bonnie) Sananvatananont won in the same category, for her idea to add a plastic cutlery opt-out system to Thailand’s popular food delivery service food panda. If only 10% of orders opt out, that would mean the service removes 276,000 sets of plastic cutlery in a year.

Pamela Nicole Mejia from the Philippines tackled one of the biggest polluters in the world with her ideas: the fashion industry. Phinix is a textile upcycling startup that collects textile wastes and transforms them into higher valued products such as footwear, fashion accessories and lifestyle pieces, in lieu of leaving them to be discarded in landfills.

Indonesia’s Achmad Solikhin was awarded for his technology, BIOTIC, a plastic product based on recycled and bio-based plastic .. His first product line will feature stylish helmets, but plans to expand into compostable packaging and furniture production in the future.

Energy efficiency

In Energy Efficiency, Mohammed Saquib from Pakistan received an award for setting up Modulus Tech, an organization that produces ultra energy efficient, low-cost modular flat-pack housing built from recycled materials. Pakistan’s housing shortage is up to 10 million units, and there is a large market for low-cost housing, including in refugee and displaced persons camps.

In the Philippines, Mark-Anthony Villaflor is taking a sustainable and award-winning look at the tourism industry. By using his property as a solar panel guinea pig, he will gather baseline data on energy efficiency, look at the fuel costs of local businesses, and help them covert to renewable energy to reduce the carbon footprint of El Nido.

An environmental architect from Thimphu, Bhutan, was awarded for his ideas on improving energy efficiency across the country. Deependra Pourel is planning to install smart energy meters in homes, offices, and hotels to provide building owners insight into their energy use. His startup will also leverage his architectural skills to help building owners reduce energy use through behavior change, efficient appliances and architectural redesign.

Monish Siripurapu, an architect based in New Delhi, received an award for a biomimicry cooling system inspired by the structure of a beehive. Customized through advanced computational analysis and modern calibration techniques, the device passes water through earthen cones that facilitate evaporative cooling, using little energy and zero ozone depleting or carbon-intensive refrigerants.

Low Carbon Mobility

Hassam Ud-din set out to improve the efficiency of roads in Pakistan, where most cars and trucks on the road operate at 30% capacity. His startup increases access to affordable, efficient mobility through an app called RASAI, which allows for peer-to-peer sharing of a vehicle’s extra space and seats, offering inter-city ridesharing and freight-shipping capabilities.

Sri Lankan national Sasiranga De Silva won an award in the Low Carbon Mobility category for bringing the iconic tuk tuk into the eVehicle market. His startup is developing an affordable conversion kit that will allow tuk-tuk drivers to convert their existing iconic vehicles to an electric powertrain that will generate zero tailpipe emissions.

Shutong Liu’s venture aims to produce biodiesel from waste cooking oil. Biofuel produced from cooking oil is interchangeable with diesel fuel, so there is no need for vehicles to convert engines to use it. Liu, based in China, aims to connect the source of waste oil, namely restaurant chains, with final users to build a circular economy loop. As an added bonus, this diverts waste cooking oil from illegal and unsafe reuse as food.

Lathika Chandra Mouli, also based in China, aims to facilitate transactions between building owners with solar panels and electric vehicle charging stations and drivers, through her business Energo Labs. As the price of electricity in most Asia-Pacific countries is cheaper than the cost of fuel, such a solution can help encourage electric vehicle adoption and simultaneously incentivize homeowners to install solar panels.

Read more information about the winners in:

Bhutan

Philippines

India

Indonesia

Pakistan

Samoa

Sri Lanka

Thailand

China

NOTES TO EDITORS

About the Asia Pacific Low Carbon Lifestyles Challenge

The Asia-Pacific Low Carbon Lifestyles Challenge aims to mobilize and support young people with business ideas on how to foster energy-efficient, low-waste, and low-carbon lifestyles.

This is an initiative funded by the Ministry of Environment Japan, as part of SWITCH-Asia’s Regional Sustainable Consumption and Production Policy Advocacy Component, the Asia-Pacific Regional Roadmap on Sustainable Consumption and Production and One Planet. This initiative is carried out together with the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, The Thai National Science and Technology Development Agency and Sasin Entrepreneurship Center.

For more information, contact:

Adam Hodge, UN Environment, [email protected]