Coconut shell being used to produce mosquito coil

Use of coconut kernel in preparing delicious cakes is a tradition in Bangalee culture. Use of its coir for making ropes and mattresses is also not new.

Its shell is now a commercial item, thanks to the innovative idea of a small entrepreneur in Bhairb, a commercial centre on the bank of Meghna in Kishoreganj district.

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To make mosquito coil, the coconut shell is powdered crushed in a crusher machine. The dust is turned into paste and then some chemical ingredients are mixed to make pulp, from which mosquito coil is produced.

The shell is crushed in a machine fitted with motor, which can be installed in a small room.

The coil produced from coconut shell is better than those produced from wood dust collected from saw mills. Coil produced from wood dust does not burn well and the cost of production is also higher. As coconut shell is oily, its coil burns well and so has a good market demand.

The factory owner who innovated the idea said he supplies the dust to coil producing companies in Dhaka. He started the business one and a half years ago.

Asked why he does not produce coil himself, he said he is earning good profit by supplying coconut shell dust alone. But he knows the process to produce coil. For that, he will have to install a small factory in the BSCIC (Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation) industrial estate and take permission, which involves a lot of hassle.

The owner said he buys the shell from people who collect the coconut waste from different areas of Bhairab, Brahmanbaria and Kishoreganj towns and from rural areas. At least 100 people earn their livelihood by selling shells to him, he said.

He buys the shell at Tk 50 to 60 per maund and sells the dust at Tk 300 to Tk 350 per maund to coil manufacturing companies. On an average, a man or a woman can collect at least one maund of shell a day, he said.

At times, small boatloads of coconut shell also arrive at Bhairab river port from different areas in nearby Comilla, Narsingdi and Brahmanbaria districts.

He said he has a plan to set up a coil producing factory with coconut shell in near future.