Archive · 4 Oct 2026
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.
Kerala-based Thenga Coco makes household items from discarded coconut shells, polishing them with coconut oil.
Thenga Coco sources shells from local coconut oil mills and temples and works with local artisans, including rural women.
Chennai-based Global Green Coir turns leftover coconut coir pith into cocopeat products for growing plants.
Indowud NFC makes composite panels from rice husk and other agricultural residues for construction and furniture uses.
Vadodara-based Brisil Technologies extracts silica from rice husk ash; its process can recover up to 70% silica.
- Who
- Four Indian startups: Thenga Coco, Global Green Coir, Indowud NFC, and Brisil Technologies.
- What
- They convert coconut shells, coir pith, rice husks, and rice husk ash into household goods, growing materials, panels, and silica.
- When
- Thenga Coco was founded in 2019, Global Green Coir in 2014, and Brisil Technologies in 2016; no founding date is given for Indowud NFC.
- Where
- The startups are based in Kerala, Chennai, and Vadodara; Indowud NFC's location is not stated.
- Why
- They are finding uses for agricultural leftovers by turning them into products used in homes, farms, and industries.
- 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.