Former textiles student makes stunning breakthrough with onion skins: 'I wanted to find a solution from something with no value'

One roadblock to phasing out plastic food packaging is extending the shelf life of perishable items, but HUID CEO Renuka Ramanujam may have found an ingenious solution.

As detailed by the BBC, Ramanujam is transforming onion skin into compostable packaging. Because these skins have antimicrobial properties, they could ensure food stays fresh while eliminating billions of pieces of plastic waste.

The entrepreneur first became familiar with onion skins as a textile student when she used them as clothing dye. Yet her desire for clean, healthy food helped fuel her development of the eco-friendly packaging solution. According to Beyond Plastics, researchers have linked 3,200 chemicals in plastics to cancer, hormonal disruptions, and neurodevelopment problems.

"Plastic leaches chemicals into food when it's heated," Ramanujam told the BBC. "I wanted to find a solution from something with no value."

Moreover, food waste is a significant global problem.

The World Resources Institute estimates that as much as 40% of food is lost or wasted, even as around one in three people struggles with food insecurity. In addition to consuming trillions of gallons of water, lost or wasted food also produces around 8-10% of planet-warming pollution associated with more intense extreme weather, which has pushed many farmers to the brink.

Ramanujam told the BBC that onions were also a perfect solution because they are a staple around the world — surpassed in production only by tomatoes, per Statista.

"Imagine any meal you have — there's bound to be some onion in there. Onions are a global staple for cuisines. They're everywhere, so their waste is everywhere too," said Ramanujam, who is from India but has Dutch nationality.

The entrepreneur also believes her plastic-free packaging solution could help protect biodiversity if widely adopted, serving as a replacement for cardboard products as well, though the product isn't yet ready for commercial use, per the company.

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"Trees are super important to the environment, because of the animals they home and the carbon they hold," Ramanujam shared with the BBC. "Onions don't have that responsibility."

As for those worried that HUID's onion-skin packaging would infuse an unwelcome odor or taste into the foods, Ramanujam assured the BBC that there was nothing to fear.

"The samples smell quite bland, if anything, maybe a little sweet," she said. "Whether that's protection or cost, we're always going to need [packaging]. We want to make sure it's done in the best way possible."

HUID's partners include powerhouses such as the University of Strathclyde Advanced Materials Research Library, IBioIC, Innovate UK, and the Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment, a joint venture between Newcastle University and Northumbria University.

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