TIP students’ edible cutleries project wins in Swiss innovations contest

To reduce plastic pollution, a group of engineering students from the Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP) in Quezon City have proposed making cutleries from flour instead of single-use plastics.

Collectively called “Edgetec,” the six students from the TIP in Quezon City came up with the idea of turning flour into “edible cutleries”—an alternative to disposable utensils that earned them a third-place finish at the recent 2023 Swiss Innovation Prize competition.

“We believe it can be a sustainable solution to lessen our need for single-use plastics … It won’t cause a problem to the community, especially for marine animals, because even if they ingest it, it is safe,” said the group’s team leader Stanley del Rosario, a fourth-year civil engineering major.

According to the TIP, the paper titled “Edible Cutleries with Biodegradable Packaging as an Alternative to Single-Used Plastics” was part of the students’ coursework for their Tech 101 Engineering and Entrepreneurship class.

150 entries

The group worked on the project for two months and entered their research proposal in the 2023 Swiss Innovation Prize organized by the Embassy of Switzerland in the Philippines in September, in partnership with the Swiss Cultural Fund and Swiss Chamber of Commerce.Among the 150 entries from students and professionals nationwide, their work was awarded third place in the sustainability category. The group received a cash prize of P30,000 and a trophy.

Based on a copy of their written report sent to the Inquirer, the group’s edible spoons and forks come in different flavors like chocolate, pandan, strawberry, vanilla and mustard. With an estimated price of P50 to P100, the cutleries come in plastic packaging that degrades after two years, as it is mainly made of water, glycerin and gelatin. INQ