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Four Indian Startups Turn Farm Waste Into Useful Products

Farmers and food makers often have leftovers such as coconut shells, husks, and rice husks.

Four Indian startups are finding ways to use some of these leftovers.

Thenga Coco turns coconut shells into items such as bowls and planters.

It uses coconut oil to polish them and works with local artisans.

Global Green Coir makes cocopeat from a leftover material in coconut husks, and people use it to grow plants.

Indowud NFC mixes rice husk and other farm leftovers into panels for things like furniture and doors.

Brisil Technologies gets silica, a useful material, from rice husk ash.

These businesses turn waste into products for homes, farms, and industries.

Key facts

Thenga Coco: Founded in 2019; turns discarded coconut shells into household and decorative items.
Thenga Coco sourcing and work: Sources shells from local coconut oil mills and temples and works with local artisans, particularly rural women.
Global Green Coir: Founded in 2014; makes cocopeat products from coir pith left after fibre is extracted from coconut husks.
Cocopeat uses: Used in greenhouses, hydroponics, nurseries, landscaping, and home gardening.
Indowud NFC panels: Made from pulverised agricultural husks, minerals, and polymer binders, without harvested wood fibres.
Brisil Technologies: Founded in 2016; extracts high-purity silica from rice husk ash.
Brisil process: The company says it can recover up to 70% silica; its commercial-scale plants are designed to use around 50 tonnes of biomass waste per day.

businesstoday.in · 8 hrs ago