During a diving excursion, Florencio Cuetara and Dr. Russell Petrie, found themselves swimming alongside plastic bottles, straws and bags. The unpleasant experience motivated the two friends to search for an epic solution to tackle the ‘floating’ problem.
The founders assembled together and combined their knowledge from their respective fields of medicine and food packaging and the principles of source reduction and biomimicry. They consulted with the world’s best engineers, chemists, designers, conservationists, geologists, physicians, writers, programmers and nuclear physicists from all across the world. That’s how Okeanos was born.
In Greek mythology Okeanos was a primordial Titan god who regulated the heavenly bodies which rose from and set into water.
Okeanos’ is a US-based sustainable innovative company focused on developing calcium carbonate-based solutions that aim to help brands tackle their sustainability goals, reducing their plastic and carbon footprint of single-use plastic today. The company’s headquartered in Miami Beach, Florida and has satellite offices on 5 continents.
The patented technology immediately and drastically reduces or lowers the plastic and carbon footprint at the source by using a naturally abundant and renewable compound, calcium carbonate. This natural and renewable mineral replaces the majority of petrochemical derived plastic in traditional compounds with stones. Moreover, the products can also achieve upto ⅔ reduction in plastic content and can reduce carbon footprint by an indistinguishable amount.
An inspiration from Mother Nature
Okeanos has taken cues and inspiration from nature. The innovative corporation has espoused the word “Biomimicry” which means learning from and then mimicking the forms and strategies found in nature to solve human design challenges.
Okeanos’ innovation centre develops sustainable technologies that aims to reduce plastic pollution and reduce carbon footprint.
Calcium carbonate is used as a filler in packaging however due to processing and density issues it has been limited in small percentages.
Okeanos helps resolve these problems by using calcium carbonate in most items, keeping them flexible, lightweight and floatable. Moreover, calcium carbonate is less expensive than oil-based and bio-alternatives. The ‘Okeanos: Made from Stone’ is priced almost the same or less than current plastic compounds. The technology is designed to work on existing machinery which eliminates the need for costly new plants and equipment. Made From Stone is also available for use across traditional manufacturing processes including film, thermoforming and moulding.
Build a robust network
Okeanos has developed a robust network of international partners on five continents to source, process, manufacture and distribute MFS, with minimal environmental impact, allowing companies from Miami to Mumbai to integrate the solution easily and affordably into their existing operations. The company’s network includes partners in United States, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, Spain, Switzerland, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Malaysia, Colombia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
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