Growing up in Delhi, Siddharth A K yearned to return to his hometown in Thiruvananthapuram. What drove him more to visit Kerala were its serene beaches. For him, summer vacations meant soaking in the tranquil beauty of coconut palms lining the shore.
Often, his mother would take him to beaches for cleanup drives – a memory he has treasured for a long time. This habit became so ingrained in him that even after his mother’s early death, he continued visiting beaches to pick up plastic litter.
“My mother and I would clean the beach every summer vacation during our visits to Kerala. This tradition continued until my final year in college when my mother passed away due to illness. I cremated her near Shanghumugham Beach, a place that held so many memories for us. Sitting there afterwards, I felt an overwhelming sadness. To channel my grief, I began cleaning the beach weekly,” Siddharth shares in a conversation with The Better India.
One day, during one of these cleanups, he returned to the same beach the very next day and found it full of trash again. “It then became clear that cleaning alone wasn’t enough — there needed to be accountability and proper recycling,” he adds.
Kerala generates about 450 tonnes of plastic daily, with around 70 percent ending in the sea. Marine littering and plastic pollution continue to plague the state’s 590-kilometre coastline.
Siddharth wanted to come up with sustainable solutions to address the growing menace. Returning to Delhi, he visited polymer research-based institutions to study plastic waste and its potential reuse. That’s when it struck him — what if this waste could be turned into something useful? Inspired by this thought, he decided to transform plastic waste into utility items like furniture and paver tiles.
Together with his friends Sooraj Verma and Alvin George, he launched ‘Carbon & Whale’, a clean-tech startup, in 2022. We sat down with the co-founders to learn more about their journey of converting plastic waste into valuable products.
Transforming trash into treasure
In the initial stages, Siddharth met Sooraj Verma, a professor at the Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering & Technology (CIPET) – an autonomous institution devoted to plastic engineering and allied industries. The duo began experimenting with the composition of furniture pieces to be manufactured using plastic waste.
By this time, Siddharth had already quit his job and was exhausting all his savings to fund the research and testing. “I didn’t have any liabilities or dependents,” he says.
“My father passed away when I was four, and I have no siblings. So, I left my job and pooled money from close friends, exhausting all my savings of Rs 10 lakh. Bootstrapping the company quickly drained my funds. To keep going, I began selling off personal belongings like my TV, fridge, sofa, washing machine, oven, and even a mixer to collect money for the research.”
The research and development process took two years. It was during this period that Siddharth met Alvin in a chance business meeting. Both shared the same vision of a more sustainable world and a plastic-free Kerala — their homeland. Inspired by their shared goals, Siddharth, Alvin, and Sooraj decided to join forces.
The trio formally launched Carbon & Whale in 2022. Their approach involves meticulously collecting and sorting plastic waste with the help of local school and college volunteers and non-profit organisations. The collected waste is then sorted by type and quality before undergoing a specialised recycling process. This process breaks down the plastic into usable components, which are then moulded into benches and paver tiles.
Siddharth says they focussed on collaborating with local schools to encourage students to bring segregated plastic waste from home, which they creatively transform into items like plant pots, earrings, and keychains. He explains that the idea of focusing on schoolchildren stems from the belief that they are the seeds of our future, adding, “Nurturing them with the right values will shape a better tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, talking about the distinctive features of their products, Alvin says, “The paver tile has more strength than a normal interlock made of concrete. This is one of our USPs (Unique Selling Point). There is also no issue of wear and tear or rusting, which is common in metal benches. If anything happens to the recycled material, we can recycle it again. As these are made of plastic, they are durable and protected from termite damage, unlike wooden furniture.”
Their interlock paver tiles and public benches have already been installed in several malls and metro stations across Kerala and Bengaluru. Interestingly, the friends have partnered with LuLu Group, HiLITE group, Cochin Smart Mission Limited (CSML), Malabar Group, Centre Square Mall Kochi, Kochi Metro, and Kerala Tourism.
Turning 10,000 kg of plastic into purpose
Over the past two years, the company claims to have saved 10,000 kg of plastic waste from polluting landfills and oceans. Siddharth mentions that their mission is to declutter one million kilograms of plastic waste in Kerala as part of their ongoing campaign, #Declutter. “So far, we have successfully transformed 3,000 plastic waste items into useful products like public benches. While 3,000 is just a small step toward the one-million goal, we are committed to continuing our efforts until every piece of waste is addressed,” he shares.
The startup has also explored the B2B section to ensure the traceability and accountability of the plastic. “We do not focus on selling directly to the consumer because, in such cases, our accountability is lost. If something breaks, consumers will throw the furniture away and it won’t come back to us. With B2B, we can ensure proper traceability,” says Alvin.
To fund their operations, the trio raised Rs 15 lakh through grants from the Kerala Startup Mission and the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation. Since launching their company, they have observed remarkable revenue growth — from Rs 67,000 to Rs 4 crore annually.
Looking ahead, the startup aims to expand its impact by designing and producing dustbins and public toilets. Through these initiatives, they strive to transform waste into solutions that benefit the community and create a cleaner, more sustainable environment.
For Siddharth, Carbon & Whale is more than a company. “After losing my mother, cleanup drives became a way to find solace and stay connected to her memories. The work we do at our company feels like her legacy — transforming grief into purpose and giving back to the earth, just as she always taught me,” he shares.
Edited by Khushi Arora
