Project report for Areca leaf plate manufacturing

Areca leaf plates are a great alternative to plastic and polymer-based materials, as well as paper-based products, which the world is worried with. For the production of these plates, a completely natural process is used. Areca leaves that have fallen to the ground are harvested from plantations. The areca leaf sheath was washed and immersed in water for about 15 minutes before being shade dried for 30 minutes. Then, using the correspondingly formed Machines, they are compressed into various forms. They are then packaged according to the customer's specifications.Each Areca leaf plate manufacturing unit employs three people directly. There is an additional effect of providing jobs for two more individualsa rural area is selected for employment generation.  In addition, there will be a work shed and labour at a low price. Approximately 5400 million Areca Leaves can shred and treated as agro-waste on 4 lac hectares of Areca Crop.

These leaves have the potential to be turned into a value-added product. Some benefits of areca leaf plates :

• Suitable for hot, cold, and wet foods.
• It's light, solid, but not crushable.
• At no point are chemicals, bleaching, PE (Poly Ethylene) coating, or wax coating used.
• Microwave and fridge healthy.
• Holds liquid products without leaking for 4 hours.
• It is environmentally safe, biodegradable, and compostable.
• Trees are not cut down; falling leaves are gathered and converted into value-added items instead.

Although the usage is not as widely done as thermocol and plastic plates but keeping in mind the environmental degradation and rising awareness among people with the trend of returning back to nature can give a huge boom to the industry in future. Each year, a single Areca leaf plate manufacturing unit requires 195000 leaves. In this case, approximately 27700 plate. Manufacturing units could be set up throughout India. In 27700, 1.5 lakh new jobs can be created. Just 1500 units have been built in India so far. Around 1000 of these units are in India's south. Tamil Nadu (Salem, Coimbatore) and Kerala are the main raw material sources for south Indian units and Karnataka (Thumkur, Shimoga). There is currently no substitute product on the market that can equal the special properties of natural areca palm leaf plates. Areca leaf plates are constructed from the Areca Nut Tree's naturally shed leaf sheaths. The areca leaves are simply gathered, pressure washed, scrubbed, sun dried, and then assembled into suitable shaped plates using heat and pressure. Once used, plates can be used as a good fertiliser to help plants flourish, as well as a good source of organic manure. Plastic and paper plates are replaced by removable plates and cups. Natural, compostable, and biodegradable materials with a chic appearance. Demand is also strong within the region. It is an untapped industry, full of potential where the first mover advantage can be an instrumental factor.