High School Innovators Turn Sugarcane Waste Into Eco-Friendly Cat Litter
Two Bangkok high school students are commercializing Caneko, an eco-friendly cat litter made from recycled sugarcane bagasse, after developing it as a finalist project in their environmental innovation competition.
Caneko is a natural cat litter made from recycled sugarcane bagasse, born from observations that factories and businesses in sugar-producing communities often burn leftover bagasse due to its low cost and simplicity, creating harmful PM2.5 dust pollution.
EnviroTech Innovation Competition
Punn Panjrungroj and Naphwee Wiphutsiri, high school students from Bangkok International School, founded and manage the EnviroTech Innovation Competition for 2025–2026 to encourage students nationwide to create real-world environmental solutions. The competition runs in three rounds, with teams presenting ideas that develop into prototypes, guided by expert committees at each stage. The bagasse-based cat litter was one of five finalist teams that received 30,000 baht in development funding and presented a working prototype at the grand final.
Launching the Product
Confident that harmful waste could be transformed into something people would willingly buy, Punn and Naphwee joined as business development partners to bring the sugarcane bagasse cat litter to market.
Caneko Product
Developed by a student team from Saharaja Rangsit School in Sri Songkhram district, Nakhon Phanom Province, the product aims to replace traditional bentonite cat litter, which poses respiratory risks to both cats and owners. Caneko offers a biodegradable alternative with high liquid absorption. Instead of burning bagasse and creating pollution, this cat litter combines bagasse with zinc oxide and ash. Punn and Naphwee spent over a month refining the formula to improve clumping, reduce dust, and maximize odor control, creating a product that is clean and safe for cats and the environment. They also conducted market analysis, competitor research, and pricing strategy to compete in the cat litter market.
Booth Display
Caneko debuted at retail for the first time at the Home and Garden Fair Midyear 2026, generating strong interest from cat owners and securing retail partnerships that resulted in over 600 units of orders.
Punn and Naphwee are now working with their team to develop Caneko into a real business. Short-term goals include achieving product standards, scaling production, and expanding from fair sales to pet supply stores and online markets. Long-term goals align with the product's original mission: the more bagasse Caneko accepts from the community to produce, the more it reduces harmful burning, transforming a small brand into a sustainable community product.
For more details, visit www.envirotech.eco
