Safraz Khan’s Amazon Bioplastics, which will see the production of biodegradable plastic for various applications, has targeted January next year as the time for commencing operations.
Located at La Union (commonly known as Crane) on the West Coast Demerara, Amazon is pursuing what many may regard as the important undertaking of replacing the accustomed non-biodegradable plastic bags, that continue to have a negative environmental impact, with biodegradable ones.
Khan’s was one of the first projects recommended to the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) by the Small Business Bureau under the Medium and Small Enterprise (MSE) project. His $30 million loan, one of the first to be allocated within the confines of the project, is collaterized by the Bureau and is intended to serve as partial financing for the project.
Khan says the Chinese machinery and raw material for the manufacture of the biodegradable plastic is already in Guyana but he is awaiting the arrival of an engineer from China. Corn, sugar cane and cassava are among the range of raw materials from which the biodegradable plastic is made. Since corn is widely used for fuel and animal feed,
