Oct 15, 2019
Biodiesel from used cooking oil to fuel a revolution
The Indriyam team with the working model of the plant they developed to convert used cooking oil to biodiesel, in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday.
Start-up project to generate 250 litres per day
Imagine a local taxi or truck fleet operating on blended biodiesel manufactured in-house from used cooking oil sourced from restaurants, caterers and bakeries in the neighbourhood. That situation may sound too far-fetched but it could become a reality soon, if the pioneering work by a biotechnology start-up here comes to fruition.
Sensing an opportunity in the government’s drive to cut oil imports by turning used cooking oil into biodiesel, the company named Indriyam Biologics has developed a working model that can generate 250 litres of biodiesel per day.
Pilot project
“If things go according to schedule, the pilot project will be launched next month,” says R. Dileepkumar, founder and CEO of the start-up operating from SCTIMST-TIMED, a technology business incubator established by the Sri Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) here.
Launched with funding from the Carbon Zero challenge of IIT- Madras, Kerala Startup Mission, Department of Science and Technology, and the SCTIMST, the project involves development of a compact, portable and safe-to-handle processor for localised production of biodiesel from used cooking oil. The company has applied for a design patent on the miniaturised plant that could switch from the chemical to enzyme-based trans-esterification process.
“We hit upon the idea of small-scale production of biodiesel, as most of the big biodiesel plants in the country suffer from poor supply of raw material,” explains Dr. Dileepkumar.
“On the other hand, the reuse of cooking oil poses a health hazard while its disposal pollutes the environment. Conversion to biodiesel addresses both the issues.”
The company hopes to tap big restaurants, caterers and units making banana chips and other fried snacks to ensure the supply of raw material. It is in talks with the Kudumbasree Mission to establish decentralised units.
In August this year, the Central government had announced that State-run oil marketing companies would procure the entire supply of biodiesel produced from used cooking oil for a three-year period. The scheme that seeks to ensure the supply of biodiesel to be blended with normal diesel has been launched in 100 cities across the country.
FSSAI direction
Earlier, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI ) had stated that from March 3, eateries would not be allowed to reuse cooking oil more than three times. FSSAI has directed all food business operators to dispose of used cooking oil to authorised agencies for conversion to biodiesel.
Take action on panel report seeking ban on sachets, pouches within 3 months, NGT tells govt
NEW DELHI: The National Green Tribunal Monday directed the Centre and other agencies to take action within three months on a report by an expert committee which sought ban on small water bottles, pouches and cups saying these constitute a considerable amount of plastic waste.
A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said that based on the recommendations of the expert committee, "the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Directorate General of Health Services, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India and other agencies concerned shall take action within three months in accordance with law".
The report, submitted recently by the panel, has stated that lighter, portable, and cost-effective nature of single serve "sachets/pouches/bottles" continues to make them an attractive proposition for the low-income consumers as well as young and active millennials.
"Smaller pack sizes/single serve packaging also have brought better quality and premium products affordable to all the sections of the society. But on the other hand it constitutes to the major plastic waste and litter, as their collection is economically non-viable. "Hence, in consultation with Legal Metrology Department the small pack sizes such as small water bottles, pouches, cups which constitute a considerable amount of plastic waste may not be allowed," the panel said.
During its deliberation, the expert committee noted that food and beverages, drugs and cosmetics and textiles are major items of mass consumption that use plastic packaging.
"All municipal bodies must be made responsible for development and setting up of infrastructure for segregation, collection, storage, transportation, processing and disposal of the plastic waste either on its own or by engaging agencies or producers as mentioned in the Plastic Waste Management Rules.
"Citizens, especially the socially engaged ones living in urban areas with wide access to information, have adopted more environmentally conscious consumption habits oriented toward recycling, reusing and composting the waste that derives from their domestic consumption," the report said.
The Expert Committee noted that while regulatory provisions for restrictions on the packaging by use of plastic material are mostly in place, there is lack of coordinated approach and implementation of these provisions is poor.
The tribunal had in May set up an expert committee to probe whether there is a need for further norms to restrict plastic packaging of food products after a plea has sought a ban on it citing health and environment concerns.
The panel comprised representatives of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, Bureau of Indian Standards, Central Pollution Control Board and Directorate General of Health Services.
NGT was hearing a petition filed by NGO Him Jagriti Uttaranchal Welfare Society seeking ban on the use of plastic bottle and multi-layered/plastic packages /pet bottles.
Use of plastics, including polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles and multi-layered packs such as Tetra Packs, has an adverse impact on health and environment, the plea said, adding that it also results in increase in plastic waste.
It had said the notification dated December 24, 2018, issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare under Section 92 of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 deals with the issue of packaging mode of food but it ignores Antimony and Di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) in specific migration limits provided for plastic packaging.
Diwali crackdown: FDA to collect samples from all sweet shops
Bhopal: Officials of the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) department will cover all sweets shops to collect samples before Diwali.
Senior food safety officer, Bhopal, D K Verma, said that samples would be collected from all sweets shops before Diwali to ensure that adulterated sweets are not sold for the festival of lights.
On Monday, FDA officials collected seven samples of packed sweets and namkeen from the godown of the super stockist of a company at Govindpura, which sells a variety of packed sweets and namkeen items in the form of gift packs on Diwali.
An FDA team collected samples of rasgulla, gulab jamun, Sonpapdi, Rajbhog and papad from the godown, which would be sent to the laboratory to test their quality. The FDA team also seized 10 packets of amchur, 15 bottles of lime juice and four packets of ajwain, which were beyond their expiry date. The FDA team destroyed all the stuff in the godown that was beyond their expiry date.
An FDA team also raided a sweets manufacturing factory in Govindpura on a tip-off. During the raid, it was revealed that sweets and namkeen in the factory were being manufactured for a sweets shop in Piplani. The team collected five samples of Kaju Katli, Malai Burfi, saltless mathari, gulab jamun and namkeen from the factory for testing.
The FDA also appealed to manufacturers and traders to use quality ingredients to manufacture sweets and namkeen items for sale in the festival season, not to use adulterated or substandard things to prepare sweets or namkeen, not to store stale edible goods, not to sell anything unsafe for human consumption. The officials said that if anyone is caught selling adulterated, impure or substandard edible goods, he would face strict action under the provisions of Food Security Act.
Food Safety Laboratory With FSSAI On The Road To Excellence
GUWAHATI: The road to excellence seems to have been paved for the century-old food testing laboratory (State Public Health Laboratory, Assam or SPHLA) with the FSSAI (Food Safety Standard Authority of India) sanctioning Rs 10 crore to upgrade it so as to enable it to maintain even micro-level food safety standard. The good news is that Rs 7.20 crore of the sanctioned Rs 10 crore has already been released.
Set up by British India in 1920 in Shillong, SPHLA is one of the oldest such laboratories in India. However, in 1973 the laboratory was shifted to the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) from where it was shifted to its present location at Bamunimaidam, Guwahati.
Apart from Assam, four other States – Meghalaya, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim – have been depending on this laboratory for maintaining food safety standards. Departments like Customs, NF Railway etc also depend on this laboratory for getting their seizures examined and analysed.
Talking to The Sentinel, a top-level official of the SPHLA said, “In fiscal 2018-19, the FSSAI granted Rs 10 crore for upgrading SPHILA, and Rs 7.20 crore of it has already been released. With the released funds we’re importing three sophisticated machines – LC-MS-MS (Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry), GS-MS-MS (Gas Chromatography Triple Quadropole Mass Spectrometry) and ICP-MS Inductivity Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry – are being imported from Germany and the USA. The installation of such machines will enable us to examine and analyse micro-level pesticides present in food materials.
“Because of the absence of such state-of-the art machines, we’ve not been able to conduct a number of micro-level tests that are mandatory under the Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006. We’re conducting tests of around 1,000 cases annually.”
The official further said that the laboratory is going to get accreditation from the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories. Only five of the 77 such government laboratories in the country are accredited ones.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)