In a world where climate change headlines often feel distant and overwhelming, three young men, Siddharth, Alvin, and Suraj, prove that change doesn’t need to be big, loud, or dramatic. Sometimes, it can start with a broken tile, a beach full of plastic, and a simple decision: to do something about it. Siddharth, Alvin, and Suraj did not set out to build a company or lead a movement. They simply loved the beach. That love led them to something much bigger, the birth of Carbon and Whale, a company that’s giving plastic waste a second life and inspiring a new sense of responsibility across the state.
A Personal Loss, a Shared Purpose
Siddharth, who grew up in North India, used to visit Kerala with his mother. Their favourite ritual was taking long walks on the beach. Over the years, those walks changed. The sand grew cluttered with plastic bottles and wrappers. When Siddharth lost his mother in 2019, he clung to his tradition, cleaning the beach in her memory. But no matter how much he cleaned, the plastic always returned. He wanted to find out why.
His search led him to CIPET in Kalamassery, a central government research centre that deals with petrochemical waste. There, he met Suraj, a professor with a technical background. They started working together and tried to make tiles out of plastic. The idea was good, but the tiles didn’t work the way they had hoped. Still, the idea that waste could be transformed into something useful stuck with them.
Carbon and Whale: How it Began
In 2021, Siddharth met Alvin, who was then working in the startup world. They started talking and found that they shared the same love for Kerala’s beaches. That one conversation became the starting point of something real. The three of them decided to work together and launched Carbon and Whale. They moved away from tiles and focused on something more practical – Furniture made from recycled plastic.
“Everyone needs a place to sit,” Alvin says. “Why not make that place out of something that would otherwise pollute our planet?”
Furniture, they realised, was practical, familiar, and, most importantly, visible. It also gave them the opportunity to reduce the use of wood, protecting trees in the process. Instead of letting plastic fill landfills or oceans, Carbon and Whale began transforming it into durable public benches.
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Turning Scepticism Into Support
In the beginning, people didn’t take them seriously. Many thought the furniture was worthless or just a gimmick because they did not want to pay for something made from ‘plastic waste’. So they gave it away for free. A decision that worked from a business perspective.
Their first big collaboration was with Kochi Metro, where they collected 2,000 kilograms of plastic and made 160 benches. The benches were placed across metro stations from Aluva to Thripunitthura. People started to notice, and conversations about it started to flow organically.
Alvin said, “All of us, no matter our age, look for a place to sit when we’re out. We need that moment of rest. We wanted to create furniture that people would actually use; something that feels familiar and useful, but also carries meaning. When someone sits on one of our benches and realises it’s made from the same plastic they once threw away, something shifts. It makes them pause. It starts a thought. That’s where the value begins, in recognising that even waste has worth, and that segregation matters.”
The impact was so huge that Carbon and Whale utilised 12,000 kg of plastic waste and transformed it into public benches. They’ve even created a business model around advertising, where brands promote themselves through sponsored benches. “We stopped thinking like a furniture company and started thinking like problem-solvers,” Alvin adds.
The benches were not only recycled. Crafted with a wood-like finish using specialised technology, they’re waterproof, UV-resistant, anti-breakable, and built to last 15 to 20 years. Each piece is tested in labs and live environments before public installation.
One of their proudest achievements was recycling 208 kilograms of plastic food containers collected from Munambam and Vypin beaches. Many residents of metropolitan cities like Kochi frequently order food from delivery services like Zomato, resulting in a significant amount of plastic waste, especially the black containers. Carbon and Whale took these discarded containers and transformed them into benches.
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But it’s not just about furniture. The trio believes in accountability, not just collection.
“A lot of people do beach cleanups, take photos, and leave the trash behind. We don’t. We take full responsibility,” Alvin says. The process involves collaborations with colleges, NGOs, and students, who join them for cleanups and workshops. Students help with clean-ups and learn about recycling.
At Carbon and Whale, every step in the process is meant to build awareness, and the youth, being the future generation, have the power to bring in real change. The waste collected is handed over to a third-party waste management partner, cleaned, sorted, and refined into a master batch. Then, it’s sent to their facility in Kalamassery, where in-house designers turn it into sleek, sustainable furniture.
Challenges, Lessons, and Small Victories of Carbon and Whale
Certainly, the path they have travelled has had its share of bumps. There have been stumbling blocks in the form of failed ideas, frustratingly long approval processes, and the challenge of public apathy that we’ve had to navigate. “Every business is a bad idea in the beginning,” Alvin says bluntly. “We give ourselves 90 days to test any concept. If it doesn’t work, we move on. For us, reducing waste comes first. Making a business out of it comes second.” They’ve experimented with door-to-door waste collection, tried working with different institutions, and even struggled to convince people that plastic could hold value. But throughout, Carbon and Whale has always stayed grounded in their mission.
His message to every beachgoer is simple:
“Your plastic, your responsibility.”
He doesn’t want plastic banned. In fact, he calls it one of humanity’s most useful inventions. But he believes the problem isn’t the material but rather the mindset. “People need to carry their own bottles, their own jute bags. Start with one small step. That’s enough to create change.”
One of Alvin’s favourite memories is from a beach clean-up at Fort Kochi. Three elderly men in their 70s approached him and shared that they had been trying to protect the beach for years. It deeply moved them to see the younger generation continuing their efforts. That moment left a lasting impression on Alvin and reminded him of the reasons they started this initiative.
Even today, he often chooses to walk or take public transportation instead of using cars or bikes, just to sit on the benches they created. He enjoys watching people use these benches without even realising they are made from recycled plastic. He emphasises that this is not just a dream come true; it is a reality that has resulted from hard work.
Today, Carbon and Whale is expanding to cities like Chennai and Bangalore. They have even received interest from Dubai and other parts of the UAE. What started with one idea has grown into something real. From a broken tile to a recycled bench, they have come a long way. From a chance meeting to a million-dollar company, their story is less about plastic and more about possibility.
“Right now, only about 9% of plastic actually gets recycled. The rest, almost 91%, end up in landfills, oceans, or are burned. Just cleaning up isn’t enough. If the waste we collect only goes to a landfill or gets incinerated, we’re not really solving the problem. Even when you look at plastic bottles, most have recycling symbols on them. But out of the 7 types of plastic, only 3 are commonly recycled. The remaining 4 are so difficult to process that they usually end up buried or burned. That’s why proper segregation and responsible recycling are so important; they are what give plastic a real second life.”
Currently, in 2025, the benches created by Carbon and Whale are across every mall in Kerala, from Malappuram, Thrissur, Kozhikode, Kochi, Oberon Mall, Centre Square, as well as beautiful outdoor furniture for various cafes and resorts. Beyond furniture, they’re building a culture of responsibility, one that encourages us to rethink waste not as something to discard, but something to reimagine.
