Plates, yarn & baskets: How Assam entrepreneurs are turning waste into livelihood

Guwahati: As World Environment Day spotlights the planet’s fragile balance, a new generation of entrepreneurs in Assam is proving that sustainability can be both practical and profitable. Across districts, they are looking closely at what is abundant — areca-nut sheaths, banana stems, bamboo, even invasive water hyacinth — and building enterprises that cut waste, lower emissions, and create dignified livelihoods, especially for rural women.In lower Assam, the shift is visible in something as everyday as a plate. The ministry of earth sciences has also used the areca-nut plates as a message to safeguard the environment. Behind those plates is Tamul Plates Marketing Private Limited (Tamul), founded in Barpeta, which collects naturally shed areca leaf sheaths and presses them into fully compostable plates, bowls, and trays. At its modern production facility in the Tihu area, Tamul now processes 1,00,000 plates per day—diverting 25,000 areca sheaths from waste daily and avoiding 4 metric tons of CO₂ emissions every single day.“Over 50 million plates from us have reached tables in India, the United States, Europe, Australia, and South America in the last 15 years. More than 5,000 rural livelihoods have been created, 70% of them held by women, across 20 marginalized indigenous communities in Northeast India,” said Manabendra Pathak, COO of the organization.Elsewhere in Assam, sustainability is being spun into the next chapter of textiles. For two decades, entrepreneur Sujit Das, through his non-profit Green Action Foundation, has worked with MSMEs and communities on environmental preservation, energy, innovation, and startups. Now the focus is turning to fabric—specifically yarn made from banana and bamboo, aimed at strengthening the textile sector without adding to environmental strain.“This banana and bamboo yarn will be a value addition and boost the textile industry in an environmentally friendly way. These banana yarn especially will be a high end product to be produced in Assam. The banana stems that go as waste will now be used as yarn. The machine production waste in this process will go as organic manure,” said Das, on the upcoming sustainable product to convert waste to energy.In Morigaon district, near the Sonai river, another story is unfolding—one led by rural women turning an environmental challenge into market-ready craft. Around 50 women from Borchila, Halodhiati, Kuji Satra and Dolongghat formed the Dolongghat Handicraft Cooperative Society in 2019 and began transforming water hyacinth into sturdy, attractive products that are now travelling far beyond Assam.“Our handicraft products like baskets used in households are being sent to the US by a Bengaluru based exporter. In Assam, mostly ladies bags, small baskets and mates are being supplied to wholesalers,” said Monmi Dewraja, treasurer of the society. Their products are being sold in Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata and markets in Assam, besides being sent to the US.