World patent for local floor tiles from bottle waste
By Shirajiv SIRIMANE
The Industrial Technology Institute of Sri Lanka (ITI) will obtain a
patent for the first time to manufacture floor tiles using bottle waste.
ITI is a Government owned institute which functions under the
Ministry of Science and Technology. This rare achievement will help earn
more foreign exchange to the country.
ITI Senior Research Officer, Dr. Mrs. I.R.M. Kottegoda said that they
will use old bottles, bottle waste, plates and other synthetic material
to manufacture floor tiles. "We will apply for the world patent next
month," she said.
"The demand for the Institute's technical services from a wide cross
section of the industry and other commercial sectors continues to remain
strong and this is why we are doing more research and development to
manufacture products of this nature," she said.
R&D programs are undertaken by the Institute at the request of
customers. These programs are considered an important part of the
Institute's activities.
She said that they have also launched the manufacture of ornamental
material in the local market which is progressing well.
"We will pass this technology to the private sector as well so that
they could earn revenue by manufacturing it," she said.
She said that they would not give out this technology to a single
party as it would create a monopoly.
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