Today is International Plastic Bag Free Day — and it just became a day we'll never forget.
A few days ago, Aeonix Research and Innovations LLP was honoured with the Green MSME Award 2026 by The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry — India's oldest chamber of commerce, serving the nation since 1853. To be recognised for our IoT-based cleantech infrastructure by an institution with a 170+ year legacy is a moment of immense pride for our entire team.
But let me rewind to where this began.
A few years ago, we kept asking one simple question: why is something as harmful as a plastic bag still the most convenient option at every shop counter? We didn't want to just talk about plastic pollution — we wanted to build the infrastructure that makes the sustainable choice the easy choice.
So we did. We built smart, IoT-enabled cloth-bag vending machines — technology that puts a reusable bag in your hand exactly when you need one. Today, our machines stand installed PAN India.
And the numbers tell a story we're proud of. In Kolkata alone, our machines have vended 3,00,000+ cloth bags. Even by conservative estimates, that adds up to:
- ~3 crore single-use plastic bags avoided
- ~150 tonnes of plastic kept out of our streets, drains and rivers
- ~600 tonnes of CO2 emissions prevented
To put that in perspective — that's the equivalent of ~27,000 mature trees working for a full year, or the emissions from driving a car around the Earth nearly 125 times. From one city.
Here's what these years have taught us: real change doesn't come from asking people to care more. It comes from making the right choice effortless. Sustainability scales when it's built into infrastructure — not left to willpower.
This award belongs to every team member, partner and citizen who chose a cloth bag over plastic. You proved that the right machine in the right place can move a very big number.
More cities. More machines. Less plastic.
Thank you, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, for this recognition — and for reminding us why this mission matters.
See the IoT Cloth Bag Vending Machine behind the award →
Originally published on LinkedIn. Read the comments there →