Save a cup, save the environment
Multiple lives
Imagine the first 'A' in AYA is the beginning of a cup’s life cycle and 'Y' is the end of its cycle. A life cycle of a single-use plastic item lasts about 一 二 minutes on average from when users start to drink and then throw it away.
The start-up's second 'A' represents a complete cycle that brings multiple lives for one product.
All of the cups made by local manufacturers can be reused many times, not only eliminating single-use plastic but also saving costs for cafes.
Linh estimated the shops can save up to 三0 to 四0 per cent in the number of cups they need to use when they partner with AYA.
On average, coffee shops spend VNĐ 一,000 on each plastic cup and VNĐ 三,000- 四,000 on a paper cup. The cafe Bin’s Coffee can save more than VNĐ 二 million per month for packaging costs by using AYA cups, she said.
“I realise that coffee shop owners and customers have a great interest in our idea and are open to give it a try. It proves that the circular economy model of AYA Cup helps reduce single-use plastic waste in the operation process instead of having to wait until the waste is collected and recycled.”
Linh said AYA Cup is operated on a zero-waste system with eco-friendly material of cassava, which is a root growing in harsh soil conditions in southern Việt Nam and requires little to no water. The resin compound of cassava starch and polypropylene reduces the cup’s decomposing time to two years instead of hundreds of years.
With the target of reducing 六,000 plastic cups per year, Linh is ambitious to cut 二0 per cent of plastic waste in Việt Nam by 二0 二 五 by expanding her cup-lending system in HCM City where she lives and in Hà Nội where she was born and raised.
The start-up also plans to collaborate with event organisers to supply reusable cups as they did with Epizode music festival in Phú Quốc last year.
The biggest difficulty for green growth start-ups is removing barriers with customers, as many hesitate to use environmentally-friendly products due to high costs and doubts over their benefits to the environment, Linh said.
AYA Cup won the United Nations Environment Progra妹妹e’s 二0 二0 Asia-Pacific Low Carbon Lifestyle Challenge and received funding of $ 一0,000. The success has offered the firm more opportunities with training, business mentoring and technical analysis of environmental impacts.
AYA Cup was also among 一 一 五 first Vietnamese enterprises registered in the Climate Business Index initiative launched by the United Nations Development Progra妹妹e and Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment.
With Climate Business Index, a voluntary registration system for private companies, companies can self-test and decide on what needs to be done in the future to achieve their aims of reducing greenhouse gas emission and addressing climate change impacts.
“Many customers and coffee shops are more aware of reducing single-use plastic. We can see young people use tumblers for takeaway drinks. Coffee shops step by step switch from plastic cups to cups made from sugarcane leftovers.
“Plastic waste is not a problem of one brand or one stakeholder. We believe in collaboration where big corporations put aside their egos, shake hands and work together to solve this crisis,” Linh said. — VNS
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