Student Converts Waste Grass To paper bags

University of Ibadan student Ifeoluwa Garba has developed a method for converting waste grass into biodegradable paper bags. This venture has evolved into Ecobag Mart, a three-man startup tapping into Africa’s growing packaging industry.

Garba, who initially missed out on studying Mechanical Engineering and was instead admitted into Wood and Biomaterial Engineering, said the detour unexpectedly provided the foundation for building an environmentally sustainable business.

The idea, he explained, was sparked by his frustration with waste and packaging systems in Africa, as well as insights gained from Afrotalks, a think tank that promotes African-led solutions.

“Africans are leaving the diaspora back to Africa, and they want to make sense out of Africa. I began to perceive that this was already happening,” he said.

Garba traced the inspiration for Ecobag Mart to a 2022 medical outreach trip to Epe village in Osun State.

He recalled travelling past heavy drilling machines and deep pits into a community where residents lived in extreme poverty.

“Malnourished children, collapsing houses, no infrastructure, no schools, no opportunities. Nigeria exports wealth, but the communities closest to the resources remain the poorest,” he said.

Driven by curiosity rather than profit, he began experimenting with ways to turn dried grass into paper after seeing a video on the process.

Although his lecturer initially discouraged using a short, resilient type of grass, Garba said continued experimentation proved the material viable, as he later abandoned grass collection due to logistical difficulties and switched to readily available agricultural waste.

After several iterations, he secured a patent for his formula.  To scale production beyond the manual process, Garba said he built a low-budget factory and acquired basic machinery despite limited funding.

As operations expanded, he brought in two co-founders: Olawale Omofojoye, who manages raw material sourcing, and Christabel Egbegi, an environmental expert based in the UK, who offers advisory support.