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Jul 19, 2023

Making Sanitary Pads Out Of Banana Trees

One of Sparkle's sanitary pads Sparkle’s sanitary pads are made from some unusual materials: bamboo fibre, banana fibre and corn starch. Couple Hetal and Chirag Virani, both 32, founded the company in

One of Sparkle's sanitary pads

Sparkle’s sanitary pads are made from some unusual materials: bamboo fibre, banana fibre and corn starch. Couple Hetal and Chirag Virani, both 32, founded the company in order to tackle India’s high rates of girls dropping out of school once they hit puberty.

According to UNICEF, 23% of girls in India drop out once they start to menstruate, but when adolescent girls have access to sanitary napkins, school dropout rates decrease by 90%.

Whenever a pad is sold through Sparkle, one is donated to a girl in India.

Hetal, who grew up in a small city called Surat, says she personally experienced stigma over periods.

“Even a simple task of buying sanitary napkins from a store consists of awkwardly whispering the name of a sanitary napkin brand and then quickly putting it in a bag to hide it from the world. In fact, one of my closest friends is not even allowed to enter her kitchen during her periods. Why?”

Not only that, but Hetal experienced skin issues when she used commercial branded pads.

“I did some research and realized that plastic and harsh chemicals present in the pads might be the main reasons for skin irritation and allergies.

When I searched for healthy alternatives in the market, I came across a few eco-friendly sanitary napkin brands. Compared to plastic pads, they felt more comfortable and skin friendly. However, they were just way too expensive to become a feasible alternative.”

After meeting Chiang, who was researching ways of disposing agro-waste generated from his banana plantation, they decided to launch Sparkle in 2018, sourcing the banana fiber from local farmers - sparing them the cost of disposal.

“So far, we have reduced around 500 tons of banana stem agro-waste,” says Chirag.

The founders on Chirag's banana plantation

The partnership was a match made in business heaven. Chirag was trying to find waste to use banana stem waste. The fruit grows rapidly, with around 800,000 hectares of plantations in India generating 64 million tons of banana stem agro waste.

“After each harvest, farmers either burn these discarded stems which causes air pollution or they have to pay additional labour to remove them from their farms,” Chirag says.

The majority of low cost pads are made from petroleum-based ingredients with the top layer made from polypropylene (PP), the absorbent core made from crude oil derivative sodium polyacrylate, and bottom layer made from polyethylene (PE).

Sparkle’s pads biodegrade after six months, and the materials each perform their own role: bamboo fibre is naturally antibacterial and super-soft; banana fiber’s absorbent core is highly effective at locking away menstrual fluid; while corn-starch based bio plastic serves as a compostable alternative to plastic.

Internationally, the founders see Cora, Lola, Bamboo Babe among their competitors, while in India they pit themselves against Carmesi, Azah and Purganic.

“We’re different because in India, the majority of start-ups that offer eco-friendly pads in domestic market simply import pads from China, repackage them and sell them as ‘premium’ pads with high profit margins. Sparkle pads are made in India using locally sourced ingredients such as banana fibre, corn based bio-plastic etc.”

“The majority of natural or eco-friendly sanitary pads available in India are being sold at around Rs. 20 (28¢) to Rs. 35 (35¢) per pad,” Hetal says. “Sparkle pads are made in India using locally sourced ingredients that support circular economy and are sold at around Rs. 20 per pad.

“To compare, conventional pads that contain up to 90% plastic are currently being sold at around Rs. 10 (14¢) in India.”

The founders hope to launch a more affordable version of plastic-free and chemical-free biodegradable sanitary pad at Rs. 9.99 in the second quarter of 2020.