Pune startup creates world's first recycled sunglasses from packets of chips

Ashaya's recycled sunglasses are unisex and durable, the startup says

A Pune startup has created what it says are the world’s first recycled sunglasses made from discarded packets of chips.

Anish Malpani announced the launch of the recycled sunglasses on Twitter yesterday, calling it the “hardest thing” he has ever been a part of. The former finance professional spent two years researching and creating the recycled sunglasses from multi-layered plastics (MLP) in a Pune laboratory.

When Malpani started his social impact start-up Ashaya in February 2021, he wanted to work on solving the problem of multi-layered plastics that are notoriously difficult to recycle, the Indian Express reported. Made from fusing multiple materials, MLPs pose a serious threat to the environment. This kind of plastic is most commonly used in packaging food items – like the packets of chips Malpani used to create his line of recycled sunglasses.

Malpani and his team worked directly with waste pickers to collect discarded packets of chips.

This has been the hardest thing I have ever been a part of.

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Finally: Presenting the world's first recycled sunglasses made from packets of chips, right here in India! pic.twitter.com/OSZQYyrgVc — Anish Malpani (@AnishMalpani) February 16, 2023

The money earned from these sunglasses will be used to pay waste pickers better and fund the education of their children, a video explaining the concept behind the sunglasses revealed.

Malpani said a beta version of the sunglasses has been launched at a special price of Rs 1,099.

The sunglasses, launched under the brand name Without, are UV polarised, unisex and weigh just over 25 grams. Customers can scan a QR code on the side of the sunglasses to see how many packets were used to manufacture them, which waste pickers collected the packets etc.

Ashaya promises that these sunglasses are unbreakable. And if you do manage to break them, the startup will collect and recycle them again.