Pantnagar Agri varsity scientists develop biodegradable sheet as an alternative to polythene

Researcher Sheeba said that India is a major rice producing country and about 24 million tonnes of rice bran is produced during the milling of paddy. While a small amount is used as fuel for boilers, power generation, etc, most of the husk is either burnt, or thrown in the open field as garbage, Sheeba said.

Rudrapur: In a significant development that might do away with polythene and the issue of environmental pollution associated with it, scientists at the College of Technology, Pantnagar Agricultural University in Uttarakhand's Rudrapur have claimed to have made a biodegradable material from paddy husk said to be an alternative to polythene.

Prof PK Omre and his research student Sheeba Malik have prepared a polylactic acid-based sheet by refining paddy husk which can be used to store various products. Researcher Sheeba said that India is a major rice-producing country and about 24 million tonnes of rice bran is produced during the milling of paddy. While a small amount is used as fuel for boilers, power generation, etc, most of the husk is either burnt or thrown in the open field as garbage, Sheeba said.

She said that due to its low commercial value and high availability, the husk can be used as a filler in biocomposite packaging materials. It has taken the scientists three years to come up with the product. Significantly, the material will get destroyed in 3 to 6 months after coming in contact with the soil thus doing away with pollution.

Scientists have made the biodegradable packaging sheet by extracting cellulose from rice bran and incorporating it with polylactic acid, which can replace polythene packaging in the coming times. In this sheet, they have also added tea seed oil, which has antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. Besides enhancing the quality of the food products stored in it, the sheet has better mechanical strength than polythene. It has to be seen whether the purported alternative to polythene is actually introduced on a commercial scale.