Eco-conscious CEO develops alternatives to plastic packaging
By Marissa Lang, San Francisco Chronicle
Tired of struggling with hard-to-cut plastic casing, Barbara Walter bought a tool that proclaimed to do the job her scissors could not: sawing through plastic blister packs with ease.
The only problem? The device came packaged in brittle plastic casing.
Paul Tasner watched his wife struggle with the plastic in stunned silence before he burst into laughter.
“This is insane,” he thought. “Why are we packing everything in plastic?”
It’s a moment Tasner recalls often in describing his journey to create PulpWorks Inc., a for-profit company he started in 2011 with Elena Olivari, a former architect who specialized in sustainable architecture. PulpWorks seeks to replace the plastic used to package consumer products, like cosmetics and electronics, with eco-friendly packaging made from recycled paper and agricultural waste.
