Guwahati: Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati on Monday (June 12) said it has joined hands with Northeast’s largest PSU refiner Numaligarh Refinery to develop environment-friendly sustainable plastics. For this purpose, the institute has established the ‘NRL – Centre of Excellence (CoE)’ for Sustainable Materials Translational facility on bioplastics at its campus, IIT-G said in a statement.
The partnership between IIT-Guwahati and Assam-based NRL for establishing the CoE on bioplastics is a first-of-its-kind academic-industrial collaboration and it is likely to foster R&D work along with production of biodegradable plastics utilising the waste and intermediate materials.
Speaking about the facility, IIT Guwahati Officiating Director Prof Parameswar K Iyer said,
Such holistic technological advancement in the area of biodegradable plastics through industry support is a one-of-its-kind initiative in the country. We are hopeful that the industries will use the available knowledge base to speed up further commercial activities in the compostable plastics sector as the current plastic problem needs to be addressed without further delay
Also Read: After Rough Start, UN Plastic Treaty Talks End With Mandate For First Draft
Talking about the work being done in this field, NRL-CoE for Sustainable Materials Coordinator Prof Vimal Katiyar said the centre is targeting to utilize bamboo as the main raw material for the production of biodegradable plastics and related products. He added,
Once adopted, it will lead to significant industrialisation in the region. We have worked on various technologies related to compostable plastics and these technologies are open for the industries
The recently established unit houses the first biodegradable pilot plastic production plant along with several processing facilities for various biodegradable plastic products such as compostable cutlery, carry bags, plastic containers and glasses among others.
Also Read: Plastic Pollution A Global Environmental Crisis: NGT Chairperson Justice A K Goe
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – theLGBTQ population,indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the currentCOVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water,SanitationandHygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fightmalnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health,adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues likeair pollution,waste management,plastic ban,manual scavengingand sanitation workers andmenstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India wheretoiletsare used andopen defecation free (ODF)status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched byPrime Minister Narendra Modiin 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
