IIT-Guwahati, NRL To Develop Eco-Friendly Plastics

On Monday, the Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati announced a partnership with Numaligarh Refinery, the largest PSU refiner in the Northeast, to create environmentally friendly, long-lasting polymers. The 'NRL - Centre of Excellence (CoE)' for Sustainable Materials Translational Facility on Bioplastics has been built at the institute's campus for this purpose, according to a release from IIT-G. A first-of-its-kind academic-industrial relationship, the partnership between IIT-Guwahati and Assam-based NRL for the establishment of the CoE on Bioplastics is expected to stimulate R&D activity along with the manufacture of biodegradable plastics using 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-a-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," he said.

Prof. Vimal Katiyar, the coordinator of the NRL-CoE for Sustainable Materials, discussed the work being done in this area and stated that the centre aims to use bamboo as the primary raw material for the development of biodegradable plastics and related goods.

"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 to the industries," he added.

Several processing facilities for diverse biodegradable plastic items, including compostable cutlery, carry bags, plastic containers, and glasses, among others, are housed in the recently formed unit, which also includes the first biodegradable pilot plastic production plant.