“I am determined to eliminate the use of single-use plastics from our everyday lives at any cost. I am not willing to pay for the long-term health and environmental cost inflicted upon us by the regular use of these short-lived harmful materials. Biodegradable, compostable plant-based products are the best solutions and I wish to implant this thought among each and every citizen of this country.”

Rahmatullah Ershad, Entrepreneur

This story manifests the inspirational journey of Md. Rahmatullah Ershad – a young enthusiast and entrepreneur, who dreams of building a culture of nature friendly compostable product usage in Bangladesh through his innovative endeavors. Mr. Ershad is an individual entrepreneur, based in Dhaka, who have been continually putting his efforts for the last 10 years in developing environment friendly single use product line in the country. He successfully innovated number of single use products that can be used as useful substitutes to the existing single use plastic items available in the market. Due to the uniqueness lied in his used raw materials and manufacturing techniques, his work has become quite popular among the people in his native community. At a considerably young age, he has managed to grab the attention of the people within the country and beyond with his undefeated pioneering spirit.

Mr. Ershad is currently operating an environment friendly single use product and paper manufacturing factory of his own located at Kamrangir Char in Dhaka where a pair of workers also work with him. The factory reportedly manufactures multiple biodegradable and environment friendly single use items including – single use plates made up of Shal leaves, paper plates, compostable and biodegradable wrapping paper, Water Hyacinth made plates, Banana leaf made paper bags etc. that can successfully replace the existing plastic items in the market. The nature- derived raw material he uses are quite unique that make him distinguishable in his field of business.  He still operates manufacturing in his factory on order basis but the growing demand in recent times has made him think about opting for production on regular basis.

While asked from where did he get the motivation to start his business, Mr. Ershad exclaimed “I wish to perceive the message that nature wishes to deliver to us. Nature is benevolent, it keeps on delivering us with its blessing and expects nothing but the conservation of its sustenance in return. It is us who get inconsiderate and opt for options that are potentially destructive to the environment. I believe in doing justice to the nature with my own actions and create footsteps for the ones inspired to walk in the same way”.

Coming this far, has not been an easy task for this determined soul, as he had to face several odds in his way. Being born in a small village in ……., Mr. Ershad had always believed to dream big. As a child, he had been one of the most curious kids in his village and had been constantly searching for scopes to learn and do something different. While grown up, his exploration tendency led him to do research in environment friendly products and eventually he found interest in businesses that promote environmental conservation though elimination of plastic products from our everyday lives. Assembling sufficient knowledge from digital resources available over the internet on the techniques of manufacturing environment friendly items, he brought some machineries from India and started a business of his own. In his earlier days, he had to deal with multiple crisis including lack of finance, lack of financial support and encouragement as well as social pressure. At the beginning, people tend to discourage him for his unusual aspirations but he never lost confidence over his idea of practicing nature friendly businesses throughout his career.

Talking about his struggles, he exclaimed “I had to spent several sleepless nights and days in my initial days. As I preferred not going in the conventional way and choose something out of the box, uncertainties associated with my selected option used to scare me throughout. However, I never permitted my fear to get over my dreams and kept on working relentless towards my goal. My hard work and dedication eventually paved the way towards my success and led me to the realization of my dreams”

Expressing about the prospect of his business, Mr. Rana said that, manufacturing of environment friendly single use items have the potential to emerge as one of the most profitable businesses of recent times as the demand for these items have been growing both at home and at abroad in an unprecedented rate than ever. He said that, his innovated techniques are mostly manual and requires very less financial and technical input resulting in reduced manufacturing cost but the market price is quite higher which ultimately paves the way towards greater profitability. The products have impressive export value as well due to the extended environmental benefits derived from their usage. He encouraged the unemployed and the aspiring entrepreneurs in Bangladesh to get indulged into such businesses so that this particular sector can flourish at its best in the context of Bangladesh.

****I am yet to add the pictures as the images as not in hand right now***

“I procure the raw materials from locally available and naturally occurred plant wastes that cost me significantly limited. The machineries used for the processing of the raw materials are also quite cheap and can be even made locally. All in all, the business tends to be one of the easiest job you can avail in recent time but it promises you a great deal of monetary benefits.”