When Valentyn Frechka was 19 years old and still a student living in rural Ukraine, he began working on a science project to turn fallen leave from plants into biodegradable paper and cardboard bags. Three years later, the project advanced considerably, and he began running an initiative called “Re-leaf Paper,” producing paper bags and packaging from fiber extracted from dead leaves.
He has since partnered with a local cardboard manufacturing business and founded a small company based in Zhytomyr, Ukraine (140 km (87 miles) west of the capital Kyiv), aiming to reduce the environmental impact of paper production. During his time with the cardboard company (before he teamed up with it to launch Re-leaf Paper), he learned about the paper industry.
Frechka told Reuters:
The idea is straightforward. Things that are believed to be waste can be reused or recycled. Leaves are waste that needs to be removed from parks because they emit a lot of carbon as they rot. It is an opportunity for a customer to use environmentally-friendly packaging.
Frechka believes his initiative could end deforestation caused by the manufacturing of plain paper. He also points out that the waste from his products could be recycled and reused for various purposes.
Re-leaf Paper’s first batch of strong paper was produced solely from leaves collected in huge parks in Kyiv and urban communities – both locations where the leaves were wasted since they didn’t even serve as compost for the soil.
That batch was completed in October 2020, and now Frechka plans on going into commercial production. He’s open to any proposals from companies worldwide – anyone who wants to join this new ecological methodology of making paper.
Last year, Ukraine’s Forbes magazine included Frechka on its 30 most successful Ukrainians under 30 years old list.
