Bihar Engineer Turns Corn Husk Waste Into Plastic-Free Cups & Saucers, Gets Rs 30 Lakh Worth Orders
What farmers once burned as waste is now being used to replace plastic, thanks to a Bihar engineer who took up the green rural initiative.
Published : January 3, 2026 at 1:44 PM IST
By Vivek Kumar
Muzaffarpur: When Naaz Ozair’s nephew died of cancer in 2019, it left a deep scar on him. Questions bogged him on why would someone so young die when he never used drugs or was not addicted to anything bad. This unanswered question changed the course of Naaz's life.
A resident of Muradpur village in Muzaffarpur, the 30-year-old mechanical engineer Naaz says the loss pushed him to look closely at everyday materials humans consume, and discard. Plastic, he realised, could be the reason. Because plastic was everywhere and its effect could no longer be ignored.
That sparked something in Naaz and he began researching on plastic replacement in everyday life. After a decade-long struggle, he came up with an innovation where he used corn husks to make biodegradable cups and saucers. His innovation has also got patent and he has reportedly received a bulk order from the Indian Railways.
After completing B.Tech and M.Tech in Mechanical Engineering, Naaz Ozair was working as an assistant professor. He also secured a job in Hyderabad with a salary of around Rs 60,000 per month. Yet, he did not get peace in any of his jobs. “I wanted to do something meaningful for society and the environment, not just earn a salary,” he says.
He resigned from his job, only to return to the village and decided to work on replacing plastic. Though he faced scepticism from family and villagers who mocked his decision, he decided to proceed with his idea.
The journey was far from smooth. For the first five years, Naaz experimented with bamboo, banana fibre and papaya stems to make plastic alternatives but could not achieve viable results. The breakthrough, however, came unexpectedly.
While travelling to a friend’s wedding, Naaz noticed vehicles crushing fallen corn cobs in a field. The grains were damaged, but the outer husk remained intact. “When I went closer to check the quality of the husk, I was more than happy with its strong and durable quality,” he recalls.
Bihar produces corn on a large scale and farmers usually burn the husks that leads to pollution. So Naaz saw the potential and wanted to experiment with it. Five years of focused research and experimentation later, he succeeded in making disposable cups and saucers from corn husks.
Since then, corn husks, neither eaten by cattle nor useful for anything else, are now being transformed into eco-friendly, waterproof tableware.
Naaz buys husks from farmers at Rs 1-2 per kg. One kilogram yields around 200 cups, costing about 45 paise per cup. He sells a cup for Rs 1.50 and a saucer for Rs 2. On a daily basis, he earns around Rs 1,000, with an annual income nearing Rs 5 lakh.
The innovation benefits farmers too. What they once threw as waste has become an additional source of income. It has also stopped the practice of burning husks thus reducing pollution.
Now, five to six people are employed in Naaz's small hut-based unit though construction for a 2,000 sq ft factory is underway. Naaz is all geared up to accept bulk orders from the overseas once his permanent unit comes up.
Demand for the products is rising rapidly. "Corn-husk cups and plates are now being used in religious gatherings for prasad distribution," says Naaz who is elated that he received an order worth Rs 30 lakh from the Indian Railways.
In February 2024, he got the patent for the technology. During the process, scientists from China and Japan also laid claim to a similar innovation but Naaz ultimately got it. Since then, his work has drawn national and international attention.
“We hardly realise that eating food in plastic pushes thousands of microplastic particles into the body. According to IIT Kharagpur researchers, even drinking tea from a paper cup could force up to 25,000 plastic particles into the body,” Naaz explains.
To increase awareness about environment-friendly wares, he has visited over two dozen schools, training nearly 1,000 children in the technique of making corn husk cups and saucers. Scientists, working in corn, say husk can be a scalable alternative to plastic.
Naaz says his long-term goal is, “To replace at least 100 plastic products in the next 10 years.”
Apart from cups and plates, he is now working on straws, soap wrappers, biscuit and chocolate packaging and even pens using corn husks.
Also Read:
