THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (CSIR-NIIST) has entered a pact with a private company to transfer the technology to manufacture environment-friendly replacements for animal leather. The agreement on the transfer of vegan leather manufacturing technology was inked with Kerala-based Alter Wave Eco Innovations (AWEI) Pvt Ltd.
The new technology allows the company to manufacture replacements for animal leather from plant sources such as pineapple leaves, banana stems and rice straws without using plastic as a core ingredient.
C Anandharamakrishnan, Director of CSIR-NIIST, Thiruvananthapuram, and Jeswin George, Nidhin Sotter, Nigil Sotter, and Tigil Thomas, all directors of AWEI, exchanged the MoU at a function held on its campus at Pappanamcode.
“This is CSIR-NIIST’s fifth technology transfer for manufacturing plant leather alternatives, and the first of its kind from Kerala,” Anandharamakrishnan said. “The collaboration brings together NIIST’s expertise in developing cutting-edge technologies with AWEI’s desire for sustainable manufacturing based on plant-based, biodegradable, high-performing materials and will provide farmers with an additional income stream,” he added.
The technology will help AWEI, based in Malayattoor in Ernakulam district, tap into nature’s abundant agricultural biomass and other bio-materials sourced from farmers and farming communities. Kerala has about 20,000 hectares of pineapple farms, primarily concentrated in the Ernakulam district. These farms generate approximately 720,000 million tonnes of farm waste, which can be used to make vegan leather.