Technology for making wood-substitutes developed

A technology for making substitutes for wood from natural fibres like coir and jute for making furniture has been developed in Kerala, an official said. A natural fibre polymer composite christened "Polycor" developed by the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST), a composites laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), is very suitable as a substitute for wood-based or alternative products.

The process for making it utilises coir fibre as well as other natural fibres like banana and jute. CSIR-NIIST has been a pioneer in the research of natural fibre composites for more than two decades. The said natural fibre composites are thermo-set mouldable.

According to the MoU, the coir composite developed by CSIR-NIIST will be adopted by KFCPL as a raw material to be used as an alternative substitute for hardwood. Further technical development required for commercialization of fibre composites will be undertaken jointly between CSIR-NIIST and KFCPL.

The composite will be converted by KFCPL into unique design formats of furniture and accessories on market requirements. K.P. Raveendran, managing director of KFCPL said that they would bring out a range of knockdown furniture series by the end of this year. More >>

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