Ecostarch inaugurated Nagaland’s first Bioplastic manufacturing unit on April 20, 2024.
New Delhi, July 24 (MExN): Small holder farmers from 10 villages in Mokokchung district of Nagaland are setting an example in replacing plastics with compostable bioplastic bags made from Cassava starch.
This has potential for boosting local economy, provide employment opportunity and create a greener environment, stated a release from the Union Ministry of Science & Technology via PIB.
As per the Ministry, efforts of the Government to ban single use plastic have made limited impact mainly due to lack of alternative lightweight materials.
To address this, the North East Centre for Technology Application and Reach (NECTAR) has supported an initiative to manufacture Compostable Bioplastic Bag from Cassava Starch (Manihot esculenta), it said.
Accordingly, Ecostarch, a Nagaland based MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises), has set up a facility to manufacture bioplastic bags from Cassava plant in Mokokchung and mobilising farmers within 30-40 km range of the production facility to take up Cassava farming.
The farmers have already started with the plantation of materials and in about a year it will be ready for harvest, the release said.
Through this model, ‘cassava village’ is being promoted to boost local economy and provide employment opportunity to local youth and formation of farmer groups are being facilitated to provide them with alternative livelihood opportunities through cassava farming, it informed
Farmers are also being trained on cassava cultivation and equipped with useful farming inputs while Women SHGs (Self Help Groups) operating in all the targeted villages are also being strengthened and encouraged to take up cassava cultivation as their IGA (Income Generation Activities), it added.
In the release, the Ministry noted that the current production capacity of the unit is about 3 tons per month and the market survey has revealed demand for more.
Further, the Ecostarch aims to set up a biodegradable films/bags manufacturing unit suitable for food packaging and carry bags made of cassava starch sourced locally from farmers, it said.
This could employ more local youth in cleaning of raw materials, sorting and packaging of products for shipping, it added.
Such efforts, the Ministry maintained, has sparked an environment friendly plastic economy in the region creating a greener economy.
The Ecostarch inaugurated the Nagaland’s first Bioplastic manufacturing unit on April 20, 2024 at Changtongya Yimsen village, Mokokchung by NECTAR director general Dr Arun Kumar Sarma.
During the event, he also reportedly informed that it was also the first bioplastic plant in the North-East. Dr Akumtoshi Lkr is the promoter of the bioplastic plant.
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