Staff Reporter, Guwahti, June 12: Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati has established the NRL - Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Sustainable Materials Translational Facility on Bioplastics at its campus to work towards the development of environment-friendly sustainable plastics. Environmental concerns associated with existing plastics have resulted in an urgent need to develop alternatives that should have practically identical performance properties at comparable production cost. Speaking about the recently inaugurated Translational Facility at IIT Guwahati, Prof. Parameswar K. Iyer, Officiating Director, IIT Guwahati, said, “Such holistic technological advancement in the area of biodegradable plastics through industry support is a one-of-its-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.” The partnership between IIT Guwahati and NRL for establishing the CoE for Sustainable Materials Translational Facility on Bioplastics is a first of its kind academic-industrial collaboration. This venture will foster R&D work along with production of biodegradable plastics utilising the waste and intermediate materials. Speaking about the R&D work being done by IIT Guwahati in this field, Prof. Vimal Katiyar, Coordinator, NRL-Center of Excellence for Sustainable Materials, and, Dean, Research and Development, IIT Guwahati, said, “We, at IIT Guwahati, are targeting to utilize bamboo as the main raw material for production of biodegradable plastics and related products, and once adopted, it will lead to significant industrialisation in the region.” It is to be mentioned that IIT Guwahati is actively working towards dealing with new directions and concerns emerging from various day-to-day environmental problems. The current global emphasis on environmental sustainability has made it necessary to develop eco-friendly products using inexpensive renewable sources. The NRL-Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Materials Translational Facility on Bioplastics recently inaugurated by the Hon’ble Governor of Assam, Shri Gulab Chand Kataria will act as a catalyst to boost this global mission.
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