The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) - National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST) has inked a pact with Kerala-based Alter Wave Eco Innovations (AWEI) to transfer the technology it developed for manufacturing vegan leather. This was stated in a report by IANS.

The new technology allows the company to manufacture environment-friendly replacements for animal leather from plant sources like pineapple leaves, banana stems, rice straws, and so on, without using plastic as a core ingredient.

C Anandharamakrishnan, Director of CSIR-NIIST, Thiruvananthapuram, and Jeswin George, besides other officials, were present at the signing ceremony held at the NIIST campus.

“The collaboration brings together NIIST's expertise in developing cutting-edge technologies with AWEI's desire for sustainable manufacturing based on plant-based, biodegradable, high-performing materials and will provide farmers with an additional income stream,” Director Anandharamakrishnan said.

Kerala has about 20,000 hectares of pineapple farms, primarily concentrated in Ernakulam district. These farms generate approximately 7,20,000 million tonnes of farm waste, which can be used to make vegan leather.

Thiruvananthapuram-based NIIST is a premier interdisciplinary research laboratory and a constituent laboratory of the CSIR.

It provides farmers with an additional income stream by upcycling these resources into non-toxic, durable, leather-like materials for the fashion and automotive industries.