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MANILA, Philippines. A 15-year-old Filipino student has invented a biodegradable plastic bag made from nata de coco, a byproduct of coconut.
Amin Hataman, a 9th grader at Fountain International School in San Juan City, Metro Manila, came up with the novel idea after seeing how people utilized plastic in Mindanao.
“For me growing up in Mindanao, I developed this love for nature and noticing what everyone was doing there they were burying plastic and they were burning it. So I did some research and it’s really not good for the environment because plastic takes a very, very long time to decompose,” he told CNN Philippines.
The young inventor, who is the son Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, used nata de coco sheets to create an organic plastic that is more fibrous, more durable, and less flammable than the ordinary plastic.
His project has won several international awards including a gold medal at the International Young Inventor’s Project Olympiad in Georgia, a bronze medal at the International Sustainable World Project in Texas and third place at the International Environmental Project Olympiad in Turkey.
