KOZHIKODE: Taking the art of recycling to the next level, a city-based inventor has developed an eco-friendly alternative to thermocol using only industrial waste, newspapers and organic gum.
Thermocol was developed in 1951 by a German company by restructuring chemical bonding of Polystyrene and, now, Pantheerankavu native P Muralidhar claims to have stumbled upon a more organic way of duplicating its cushioning and insulating effects that has made it so popular in industrial circles.
“The substance which I have developed does everything that thermocol does and is more resistant to heat and stress. It is of a unique design utilising only coir fibre powder which is a by-product of the coir industry, non-woven cotton, which is embroidery waste, old newspapers and gum which is obtained from certain wild vegetables,” he said.
The invention is yet to be scrutinised by experts or showcased at technical events. The new product is yet to be named. “I travel to Tirupur a lot for business reasons and I always notice big heaps of discarded non-woven cotton waste from embroidery units. Back home, we have powdered coir fibre which is discarded from rope-making units. So I incorporated these two and designed a material that replicates the effects of thermocol,” he said.
He is of the view that the product has increased relevance with the environmental problems plaguing the world today and the well-documented adverse ecological effects of thermocol. And he is wasting no time in introducing it to the world. “A group of industrialists are currently in the advanced stages of marketing one of my earlier inventions which was a device that allowed all cookwares to be used with induction cookers. My thermocol-alternative will be used in its packaging in place of the original,” he said.