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 settlement with East Corridor Consultant India Pvt Ltd, a Lucknow-based clean-tech startup, for transferring its know-how for manufacturing single-use biodegradable tableware from rice and wheat waste. This is the sixteenth firm buying the know-how from CSIR-NIIST.

The developed cutlery is shelf-stable for as much as 10 to 12 months and may serve scorching/boiled stable and liquid meals. It has sufficient tensile power to carry the meals merchandise in accordance with its form and may resist microbial development for as much as 12 months in India’s humid atmospheric circumstances.

The price per manufacture of a plate of diameter 10 cm will vary from Rs 1.5 to 2 per plate, relying upon its high quality, power, and usefulness. Further, the cutlery, ultimate for changing the one use plastics, is absolutely degradable after use in regular circumstances with out composting inside 1-2 months.

CSIR-NIIST director C Anandharamakrishnan mentioned the utilisation of agro residues (rice and wheat waste) for the manufacturing of biodegradable merchandise will assist enhance the revenue of farmers by way of worth addition and in addition cut back the extreme air air pollution brought on by the burning of those 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 mentioned.

“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 know-how is extremely related to the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, ‘Make in India’, ‘Innovate in India’ and ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ initiatives of the Government of India.