Mission Statement: to assist the integration of foreign residents living in Spain
By Adam Woodward • Published: 29 Oct 2024 • 19:34 • 1 minute read
Eugene & Julia, creators of S.Lab. Credit: Julia Bialetska
A Coín start-up company has invented a revolutionary ecological packaging in the heart of the Málaga province, and is now used by L’Oréal.
Husband and wife team, Julia Bialetska and Eugene Tomilin, left Ukraine to follow their dream and develop a completely biodegradable product to replace petroleum-based plastics, and they found their ideal location in the Malaga province.
They found the climate, both in terms of temperature as much as in politics, to be perfect for their new product and looked into setting up their first factory in Coín, in the Guardalhorce Valley in Málaga.
The couple were working remotely from Bali during the pandemic when they hit upon the idea. Despite the almost paradisiacal setting, they saw masses of plastic waste were washing up on the beaches and decided to set about changing how the world packages its products.
Their company, S.Lab, produces a completely biodegradable packaging that can replace plastic and polystyrene and is made from recycled agricultural waste such as hemp and flax, added to mycelium, from mushrooms, both materials being perfectly organic and not harmful to the environment. Unlike other attempts at making eco-friendly packaging, Julia and Eugene’s product does not begin to decay or weaken until it is broken. From that point on, it will completely decompose and disappear in just 30 days, leading the way for a revolution in packaging as we know it, not least fast food and drink containers that get blown out to sea and end up washing up on the shores of idyllic Bali.
Forced to leave their home country by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, they transferred their production to the ideal location of Southern Spain that favours the development of the material they produce, in a political climate that is ready to project their business in Coín into a worldwide market. Now, big businesses, such as L’Oréal, are eager to incorporate the S.Lab packaging into their products.
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