Start-up develops cow dung-based replacements for plastic and furniture

The start-up Dungse labs, based in Gandhinagar, creates various bio-based products and eco-friendly composites that can replace virgin wood, particle boards and plastic, thereby promoting an environment-friendly approach.

Hyderabad (Telangana):In a breakthrough innovation, researchers from a Gujarat-based start-up have developed a technique to turn cow dung into high-quality sustainable building material to replace plastic and particle boards used as furniture. Dungse labs -- a start-up that currently operates from Gujarat's Gandhinagar and the Netherlands -- introduced this technology at the Grand Startup Conclave held here on Tuesday.

Like Dungse Labs, several startups from animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries sectors showcased their innovative products and solutions at this conclave. The head of the Research and Development section at the Dungse Labs, Sonika Pulluru, who was also present at the conclave said her start-up aims at creating a cow-dung-based industry in India, similar to what the dairy brand AMUL did with milk as its basic raw material.

Speaking more about the innovation and the start-up, Pulluru said the company creates various bio-based products and eco-friendly composites that can replace virgin wood, particle boards and plastic, thereby promoting an environment-friendly approach.

"Dungse Labs has been successful in developing biodegradable composites including bioplastic out of cow dung. Our ultimate goal for this year is to set up micro-factories across India wherever surplus cow dung is available," she said.

Speaking about the future plans for the initiative, she said, "We have so far developed the composites and our material is also well-tested. We now want to scale up the material, and create a decentralized economy across India. For that, we plan on setting up some micro factories across different regions of India."

She further said that the company is planning to set up a pilot factory in Gujarat, which they further plan on expanding across the rest of India. "We have developed around 16 composites excluding Dunk Plastics so far. The acoustic panel sample here is a product that we are planning to scale up and take out soon in the market," she added.

Debunking the popular notion that cow dung should ideally go back to fields and not be used for other purposes, Pulluru said, "It was one of the biggest drawbacks of our project -- cow dung is considered important as manure and an essential for the fields to remain fertile."

"However, while I have been interacting with farmers since morning here at the conclave, I got a fair understanding of how much surplus dung is available and how we can make use of it. We have got some really interesting data after speaking to a lot of people here including the farmers," she added.

The conclave being held in the Telangana capital was organized by the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying in collaboration with the National Dairy Development Board, Startup India, CII and Telangana Animal Husbandry Department.