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AGRI-WASTE UTILISATION
CSIR-NIIST transfers technology for single-use

biodegradable tableware

The National Institute for Inter- 12 months in India’s humid atmos- reduce the severe air pollution caused
disciplinary Science and Technology pheric conditions. The manufacturing by the burning of stubble wastes. “Apart
(NIIST), Thiruvananthapuram, a cost per plate of diameter 10-cm will from reduced carbon footprint, the
constituent laboratory of CSIR, has range from Rs. 1.5-2.0, depending cutlery made using NIIST technology
signed an agreement with East Corridor upon its quality, strength, and usa- has the potential to create employment
Consultant India Pvt. Ltd., a Lucknow- bility. Further, the cutlery, ideal for for rural people through supply of raw
based clean-tech start-up, for transferring replacing disposable plastics, is fully materials,” Dr. Anandharamakrishnan
its technology for manufacturing single- degradable after use in normal condi- said.
use biodegradable tableware from rice tions without composting within two
and wheat waste. months. “Entrepreneurs can set up plants
that can be run on various modes of
The developed cutlery is shelf- CSIR-NIIST Director, Dr. C. Anandha- operations such as manual, semi-auto-
stable for 10-12 months and can serve ramakrishnan said the utilisation of matic, and automatic. The capacity
hot/boiled solid and liquid food. It agro residues (rice and wheat waste) for ranges from 500-kg to 3-tonnes per
has enough tensile strength to hold the production of biodegradable pro- day. Based on the mode of operation,
food item according to its shape and ducts would help increase the income of the machinery cost will vary from
can resist microbial growth for up to farmers through value-addition and also Rs. 50-lakh to Rs. 2-crore,” he added.
Deepak Fertilisers inks LNG supply deal with Norway’s

Equinor

Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemi-
cals Corporation Ltd. (DFPCL), and
Norwegian energy fi rm, Equinor, have
inked a long-term supply agreement
for Liquefi ed Natural Gas (LNG). This
agreement is for annual supplies of up
to 0.65-mt over a period of 15 years,
beginning 2026.

The tie-up provides room for trad-
ing some LNG parcels in the growing
LNG market in India as well as ac-
commodating DFPCL’s growing captive
needs. The LNG will be delivered to
the west coast of India. DFPCL is at
an advanced stage of tying up the tegic decarbonisation pathways in the chemicals, helping it to absorb global
re-gasifi cation terminal with the gas future. volatility as well as enhance over-
pipeline grid connectivity to its plant’s all margins. We also look forward
doorstep already in place. “This deal will put on a solid foot- to exploring with Equinor, strategic
ing Deepak Fertilisers’ value-chain tie-ups in our Chemical Business, as
The LNG agreement also encourages right from gas to ammonia to building well as carbon footprint reduction
the companies to further collaborate block nitric acids to downstream ferti- initiatives,” said Mr. Sailesh Mehta,
on petrochemical feedstocks and stra- lisers, mining chemicals and industrial Chairman & Managing Director, DFPCL.

Chemical Weekly February 27, 2024 141

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