Anitha Soundararajan

Indian environmental engineer pioneering biodegradable alternatives to single-use plastics

Innovation Biography

Anitha Soundararajan is an Indian environmental engineer and founder of EcoPack Solutions, a company producing biodegradable packaging from agricultural waste. Her breakthrough invention - Agri-Plast - uses sugarcane bagasse and rice husks to create compostable containers that decompose in 180 days. By 2025, her company had replaced over 50 million plastic items in India's foodservice sector.

Key Achievements

• Developed cost-effective production methods making bioplastics 15% cheaper than conventional plastics
• Partnered with McDonald's India for 2024 pilot program using Agri-Plast containers
• Received 2023 Rolex Enterprise Award for Environmental Sustainability

Her 2022 TEDxChennai talk How We Can Grow Away From Plastic has over 2.3M views. Soundararajan's work is highlighted in Nature magazine as part of India's circular economy movement.

Global Impact

In 2024, EcoPack launched partnerships with UN Environment Programme to train 1,000 farmers in bioplastic production. Her technology was adopted by 2023 Asian Games organizers for all food packaging needs, diverting 80 tons of plastic waste. Soundararajan's innovations were also featured in the documentary Waste Not (2024).