India is often known for its rich biodiversity, centuries of traditional environmental knowledge, and grassroots innovations. In recent decades, inventors, academic institutions, and companies have increasingly moved to patent these sustainable practices — protecting intellectual property, encouraging scale-up, and enabling global collaboration.

Patenting isn’t just about claiming novelty; in many cases for sustainable tech, it’s about enabling funding, exporting, sharing technology (often under license), and ensuring that innovations don’t just stay local but become part of global green solutions.

In this article, we highlight five sustainable practices from India that have been patented (in India, and in some cases, internationally), describe what they are, the sustainable benefits, the state of adoption, and what we can learn from them.

1. Hybrid Hydroponics Technology (Punjab Agricultural University)

What it is:
The Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) filed and was granted a national patent for an indigenous hybrid hydroponics technology (HHT). This patent merges two different soilless farming approaches: substrate hydroponics (using root-support media) and water culture hydroponics. The innovation is optimized for pot-based substrate systems and includes features like gravity-based water and nutrient recovery, better oxygenation, cost efficiency, and efficient water and nutrient usage. 

Sustainability benefits:

• Water conservation: The closed loop or recovery system helps save 60-80% water compared to conventional polyhouse / drip irrigation systems.
• Nutrient use efficiency: It reduces nutrient waste (leaching/run-off), with reports that about half the nutrients are saved compared to standard systems.
• Land use efficiency: Allows closer plant spacing and more yield per unit area due to more compact root systems. Useful in urban or peri-urban agriculture, reducing pressure on land.

Adoption & Global Relevance:

• While the patent was national, the principles (hybrid systems, water recovery) are relevant globally for water-scarce or urbanizing regions.
• Could be licensed or adapted by vertical farms, urban agriculture startups, or regions facing water stress.

Lessons:

• A relatively simple innovation (combining two existing hydroponic methods) can yield large efficiency gains.
• Protecting such innovations via patent helps institutions like PAU monetize, collaborate, and disseminate solutions.

2. Biofilm Technology for Degrading PAHs (NIT Rourkela)

What it is:
Researchers at NIT Rourkela secured a patent for a bacterial biofilm technology designed to degrade phenanthrene — a toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) often found in industrial wastewater (from fossil fuel combustion, chemical manufacturing, oil spills). The technology uses biofilms of bacteria to break down these pollutants in a low-cost, eco-friendly way compatible with existing biofilm reactors. 

Sustainability benefits:

• Pollution control: Phenanthrene and similar PAHs are persistent toxins; degrading them reduces ecological and health risks.
• Cost effectiveness: Compared to chemical oxidation or dredging / soil excavation, biofilm methods are less energy- and chemical-intensive.
• Scalability in infrastructure: Can be integrated with industrial or municipal wastewater treatment, offering remediation in places lacking advanced treatment plants.

Adoption & Global Relevance:

• Such biofilm techniques are of interest in many countries with legacy industrial pollution or oil spill risk.
• If patented internationally, such a technology can be licensed, or used as a model for comparative bioremediation approaches elsewhere.

Lessons:

• Local environmental challenges (industrial contamination) can be addressed with biotechnological inventions.
• IP protection helps researchers and institutions attract funding, attract industrial partners, scale solutions.

3. Eco-friendly Bioplastic from Dairy Waste (Gitam University, Visakhapatnam)

What it is:
Dr. Rasheeda Khanam at Gitam Deemed to be University developed and obtained a patent for a bioplastic material made from ghee residue (a dairy industry by-product). This bioplastic is non-toxic, biodegradable, and offers an alternative to petroleum-based plastics. 

Sustainability benefits:

• Waste valorization: Turns dairy waste (which might otherwise be disposed of or pollute) into value-added bioplastic.
• Reduced plastic pollution: Biodegradable nature limits long-term persistence in landfills or oceans.
• Lower carbon footprint: Using agricultural / food industry by-products reduces reliance on virgin fossil polymers, contributing to carbon reductions.

Adoption & Global Relevance:

• Bioplastics are a global interest area—this patent shows India contributing with locally available waste resources.
• Could be licensed to packaging industries or product manufacturers wanting sustainable alternatives.

Lessons:

• Local industrial or agricultural by-products are under-utilized sources for sustainable materials.
• Biotech + material science + IP can converge to create scalable green materials.

4. Waterborne Heat Seal Coating Composition for Packaging (UFlex Ltd.)

What it is:
UFlex Ltd., a large Indian flexible packaging and solutions company, secured an Indian patent (No. 567989) for its “Waterborne Heat Seal Coating Composition and Process for its Preparation.” This coating is used for heat sealing applications on paper packaging (kraft paper), offering oil and grease resistance, suitable for blister packaging, food wraps, take-away boxes. It is waterborne (i.e. less reliance on solvents), meets food safety norms, etc. 

Sustainability benefits:

• Reduced solvent use: Waterborne coatings are less toxic, emit fewer volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
• Better biodegradability / recyclability: Paper packaging with eco-coatings is generally easier to recycle or decompose, compared to plastic or solvent-laden laminates.
• Food safety compliance: Enables safer packaging for food, reducing chemical leaching risks.

Adoption & Global Relevance:

• Packaging is a major global sustainability challenge—coatings that enable compostable / recyclable / low-impact packaging are in high demand.
• Such patented formulations may be licensed by packaging firms globally or used in international product lines.

Lessons:

• Innovation in materials & chemistry is essential; it doesn’t need to be “new plastic” but improving coatings and process counts.
• Companies with existing scale (like UFlex) can push sustainable packaging forward using IP-protected technologies.

5. Energy Harvesting Technology (CUSAT)

What it is:
Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) received a patent for a novel energy harvesting technology. Specifically, this is a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) using a composite material of graphene oxide, a conducting polymer, and PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane). The technology extracts energy from mechanical or ambient sources such as vibration, wind, or human motion. 

Sustainability benefits:

• Harvesting waste energy: Captures energy from ambient mechanical sources which would otherwise be wasted.
• Powering small sensors/wearables: Such energy harvesters can enable low-power electronics, sensors, IoT devices in remote or off-grid locations.
• Reduced battery/energy dependency: Less need for replaceable batteries, lowering e-waste and energy demand.

Adoption & Global Relevance:

• This kind of energy harvesting is of global relevance especially in remote monitoring, wearables, smart textiles.
• Patented technology helps CUSAT or licensees commercialize prototypes, attract investment, and scale the tech internationally.

Lessons:

• Innovations in “micro-energy” or ambient power generation are powerful in building sustainable infrastructure, especially for off-grid or low-resource contexts.
• Patent encouragement for universities fosters research and practical deployment.

Broader Trends & Statistics

• Since 2016, India has been granting many patents in green technologies — especially in waste management, alternative energy, and materials. More than half of patents granted are said to relate to green tech.
• Institutional R&D efforts (universities, research institutes) are increasingly aligning sustainability & IP: example, UFlex’s packaging R&D, CUSAT’s materials research, universities doing eco-materials & recycling tech.

Challenges & Gaps

While these patented sustainable practices are promising, several challenges remain in converting them into large-scale, global impact:

1. From Patent to Pilot to Market Scale: Getting global or multiple country patents is harder; manufacturing, supply chains, regulatory compliance in different geographies matter.
2. Cost Competitiveness: Sustainable versions often have higher initial cost; adoption depends on whether cost savings or regulatory incentives are in place.
3. Regulatory & Certification Complexity: For materials (especially packaging, food contact), meeting global standards (FDA, EU, etc.) is extra work, testing, cost.
4. IP Protection & Enforcement: In many countries, working with enforcement, licensing, and ensuring that patents are respected globally is non-trivial.
5. Awareness & Access: SMEs, local manufacturers often lack awareness or resources to access patented tech, licensing, or adaptation.

What These Innovations Teach Us: Key Lessons ( In a box) 

From the cases above, we can draw some practical lessons:

• Leverage Local Waste & Indigenous Resources: Bioplastics from dairy waste, packaging coatings for paper, etc., all show using local waste streams/materials reduces environmental impact and cost.
• University & Institutional Research is Crucial: Many of the patented innovations come from academic labs. Funding, R&D support, and IP cells in universities matter.
• Patenting Drives Scale & Credibility: Having patent protection helps in collaborations, licensing, export, fundraising.
• Focus on Integratable Solutions: Tech that fits into existing systems (wastewater treatment, packaging supply chains, sensor networks) are more likely to be adopted.
• Policy & Incentives Are Important: Government policies that promote sustainable procurement, green packaging laws, subsidies or tax incentives support uptake.

Indian Innovations with Global Potential

India has not just been rich in traditional ecological knowledge; it’s increasingly delivering modern sustainable innovations protected via patents. The examples above show that innovations in agriculture (hybrid hydroponics), pollution remediation (biofilm tech), bioplastics, sustainable packaging coatings, and ambient energy harvesting are being invented, patented, and moved toward larger adoption.

To ensure these innovations deliver real environmental and economic impact, the following can help:

• Strengthening IP support systems in universities and startups, especially for green tech.
• Facilitation of international patents/licensing and export pathways.
• Policies to incentivize green products — packaging, materials, energy devices.
• Collaboration between academia, industry, and government to bring these patented inventions into mainstream use.

India’s journey in sustainable patenting is still growing, but already the practice helps ensure that green solutions aren’t just local curiosities—they can become global assets.

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