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If the Iranian-Armenian entrepreneur Devig Davudi succeeds in his initiative of making waste useful in different forms, the woodworking workshops will not throw away the wood waste and the citizens will no longer leave cardboard at garbage cans. Most Importantly, trying to turn waste into a resource, the new business will ease equally the work of waste management companies, the city authorities as well as the task of fuel manufacturers.

Davudi moved from Iran to Yerevan with a family around ten years ago. First, he worked for an international organization operating in Armenia, then decided to permanently stay in the motherland.   Concerns about environmental protection, air pollution as well as driven by an idea of establishing a business in Armenia led him to manufacturing ecologically clean wood bricks.

After years of experimenting with sawdust and paper pulp through compressing and processing them, the businessman says today the results are quite encouraging to share with others and start the manufacturing.

Since September 2018, he has started the producing wood bricks named “Hurak” made from clean, recycled wood chips, paper pulp and sawdust. Hurak is a cleaner, safer, more environmentally-friendly alternative for fuel. The entrepreneur provides a pack of hurak comprising 10 wood bricks to citizens to test free of charge. In an Interview with Panorama.am, he says more than half of the customers get back to him to buy the product.

Davudi now tries to advertise the bricks through online sale portals and social media. In one of such ads, Hurak is described as ecologically clean, environmentally-friendly pressed sawdust fireplace fuel, which is an effective alternative to cordwood. Among the benefits of the product is named the fact that the bricks burn longer and hotter than cordwood—because greater natural mass is condensed into smaller size. They can be used in wood-burning stoves, wood burning fireplaces and outdoor fire pits. One brick cost 60 AMD ($ 0.12 USD), weighting 300 grams each.

In Davudi’s words before taking the initiative, he researched the market, the projects of ecologically clean bio fuel briquettes production by international organisations as well as looked for affordable raw material. He has invested much thus far, distributing some 37 thousand bricks to people for testing to see the results he needs for improving the product.

“The feedback is mostly positive. Projects aimed at preserving the environment should be in the focus of the state with the necessary will to realize them. Since we are extremely concerned with deforestation and the struggle against unlawful cutting of trees, there was a high demand for wood, yet it was not available resulting in the hike in price. That prompted me to start selling hurak,” the entrepreneur said.

He buys the raw material from furniture and woodworking workshops and buys pulp from supermarkets. Before selling the product, he consults the buyers how to use hurak. Davudi believes he would be able to return the investment after years of hard work, while for the expansion of the business he looks for getting subsidiaries from the state and applying for a business loan.

The main challenge he is facing today is the lack of available platforms to promote the products as Tv channels usually ask for amounts for interview and stories about the product he cannot afford.