YPA Innovators Spotlight: Exequiel Bunge, CEO and Co-Founder of growPack
YPA Innovators Spotlight: Exequiel Bunge, CEO and Co-Founder of growPack
The Argentine entrepreneur highlighted the importance of strong business relationships, trial and error, and a global push for sustainability.
Speakers
- Exequiel Bunge, CEO and Co-Founder, growPack
- Luisa M. Horwitz, Public Policy Programs Associate, Americas Society/Council of the Americas
Exequiel Bunge kicked off his presentation for the Young Professionals of the Americas’ Innovators Spotlight event with an image of a hamburger filled with plastics. “Basically all of us here have tried it,” the CEO and co-founder of growPack told AS/COA's Luisa Horwitz. “We ingest five grams of microplastics per week. That’s the equivalent of a credit card worth of microplastics going into our body.” Although the long-term effects of ingesting plastics cannot yet be measured, Bunge knows their levels of biodegradability are extremely low. “So that made us wonder: what is it that brought us to this reality?”
And so came growPack, a company that creates 100-percent biodegradable materials out of agricultural waste. Bunge hopes to mass produce biomaterials that will one day replace harmful plastics in everything from cup holders and takeout containers to industrial tools. Since its founding in 2018, growPack has been recognized by UN Development Program and was nominated as one of the most innovative projects in region by MIT and ITBA.
Ultimately, Bunge credits growPack’s success to trial and error and “really, really trusting your instinct … everything can be done.”
This program is the second edition of YPA’s Innovators Spotlight series, where we feature young leaders who bring new approaches and solutions to real-world issues across all sectors. Watch the first episode of the series, a conversation with StoryPlace's Ivana de Maria.
