THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : The National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST), a constituent laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), has signed an agreement with East Corridor Consultant India Pvt Ltd, a Lucknow-based clean-tech startup, for transferring its technology for manufacturing single-use biodegradable tableware from rice and wheat waste. This is the 16th company acquiring the technology from CSIR-NIIST.
The developed cutlery is shelf-stable for up to 10 to 12 months and can serve hot/boiled solid and liquid food. It has enough tensile strength to hold the food item according to its shape and can resist microbial growth for up to 12 months in India’s humid atmospheric conditions.
The cost per manufacture of a plate of diameter 10 cm will range from Rs 1.5 to 2 per plate, depending upon its quality, strength, and usability. Further, the cutlery, ideal for replacing the single use plastics, is fully degradable after use in normal conditions without composting within 1-2 months.
CSIR-NIIST director C Anandharamakrishnan said the utilisation of agro residues (rice and wheat waste) for the production of biodegradable products will help increase the income of farmers through value addition and also reduce the severe air pollution caused by the burning of these stubble wastes.
“The NIIST technology has also significantly reduced carbon footprint with developed cutlery as compared to plastic and paper. Moreover, it has the potential to create employment for rural people through supply of raw materials,” Anandharamkarishnan said.
“Entrepreneurs can set up plants that can be run on various modes of operations such as manual, semi-automatic, and automatic. The capacity ranges from 500kg to 3 tonnes per day. Based on the mode of operation, the machinery cost will vary from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 2 crore,” he added.
This technology is highly relevant to the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, ‘Make in India’, ‘Innovate in India’ and ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ initiatives of the Government of India.