SPCE — Akshat Sharma

India’s small food businesses run on delivery and takeaway — and on a growing mountain of plastic packaging that’s used once and thrown away. SPCE reimagines that packaging not as waste, but as one loop in a circular ecosystem: reliable, affordable packaging made from bamboo, recycled paper, and aluminium foil, kept in circulation through reuse, recovery, and composting — supported by local micro-factories and the informal recycling sector.

3.5M tons

of plastic packaging waste generated in India each year

~10–15%

of it actually recycled today

20–50%

packaging cost premium small food businesses absorb

The problem: packaging built to be thrown away

Food delivery and takeaway have crossed 50% market share, and packaging waste scales right along with it. For small businesses the packaging is expensive, mostly plastic, and has no life after the meal. I mapped where the waste concentrates and why the current model keeps producing it.

Infographic mapping India's packaging waste problem across food delivery — Why small food businesses? — where plastic packaging waste concentrates in food delivery.

Competitive and affordability analysis of packaging options — Why packaging matters — competitive landscape and affordability analysis.

Research: talking to the whole loop

Packaging isn’t one user’s problem — it touches the restaurant owner, the delivery rider, the customer, and the informal recycler. I researched across that chain to understand motivations, costs, and where a circular model could realistically hook in.

User research board with personas and stakeholder journeys — Research across the packaging loop — owners, customers, and the informal recycling sector.

Synthesised insights and opportunity areas — From scattered findings to opportunity areas for a circular model.

Designing the material and the loop

The core product decision: a hybrid of bamboo and recycled paper with an aluminium-foil layer — strong enough to be reliable, cheap enough to be adopted, and recoverable enough to stay in circulation. I prototyped forms and tested them against real conventional packaging.

Material selection and hybrid bamboo-paper packaging system — Material strategy — a hybrid of bamboo, recycled paper, and aluminium foil.

Packaging exploration, mood boards and physical prototypes — Exploring conventional packaging, then prototyping the SPCE alternative.

Making it a system, not just a product

A circular material only works if the service around it does. I designed the brand, the hub / micro-factory network that keeps packaging moving, and the full service blueprint and business model that make it viable for small businesses.

SPCE brand identity — the system needed a face people could trust.

The hub network — how packaging stays in circulation, and the informal sector gets rewarded.

SPCE service blueprint — Service blueprint — frontstage, backstage, and the systems that keep the loop closed.

SPCE business model canvas — Business model canvas — who pays, who gains, and where the revenue comes from.

Why it matters

Benefits and future prospects of the SPCE ecosystem — Benefits across environmental, socio-economic, and systemic dimensions — plus where it scales next.

SPCE is service design at full stretch: a material decision, a brand, a service blueprint, a business model, and a role for the informal recycling sector — all in service of turning single-use packaging into something that comes back.

The problem: packaging built to be thrown away

Research: talking to the whole loop

Designing the material and the loop

Making it a system, not just a product

Why it matters

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