Rice straw, a leftover vegetative part of rice plant, is neither efficiently composted nor used as a feed in India. Moreover, due to the need for quick disposal, operational difficulties in small-scale pulp and paper mills and lack of logistical convenience rice straw doesn’t find other large-scale commercial applications, and therefore is burnt openly in fields causing tremendous air pollution in parts of India. In the present work, a prospective commercially viable small-scale on-field utilization of rice straw was identified for the first time through an environmentally benign process. Refiner mechanical pulping was successfully used for converting rice straw into paperboard and a food-serving bowl. The prepared rice straw paperboard was found equivalent to grade-III Kraft paper as specified in IS 1397:1990, when compared for tensile and burst index. The molded bowl could become an environment friendly alternative for the presently used disposable food-serving containers made of plastics. Three different chemical treatments were attempted to impart water- and grease-resistance to the rice straw paperboard and bowl as demanded by the conceived application. Water absorption was reduced from 387 to 3 g·m⁻² as measured by Cobb₆₀ test and grease-resistance was improved from 0 to 10 as measure by Kit test. Moreover, the sizing process didn’t render the bowls harmful to consumers’ health in terms of toxicity. Summarily, the utilization of rice straw pulp for making value-added products holds promise in mitigating air pollution, reducing plastic-based disposables, and in promoting entrepreneurship in rural areas.

稻草是水稻剩余的营养部分，在印度既不能有效堆肥，也不能用作饲料。此外，由于需要快速处置，小型制浆造纸厂经营困难，缺乏物流便利，稻草没有其他大规模商业应用，因此被露天焚烧，造成严重的空气污染。印度的部分地区。在目前的工作中，首次通过环境友好的过程确定了一种具有商业可行性的稻草小规模田间利用。精制机械制浆成功地用于将稻草转化为纸板和食品碗。发现制备的稻草纸板相当于 IS 1397:1990 中规定的 III 级牛皮纸，比较拉伸指数和爆破指数。模制碗可以成为目前使用的一次性塑料食品容器的环保替代品。尝试了三种不同的化学处理方法，使稻草纸板和碗具有防水和防油的能力，以满足设想应用的要求。吸水率从 387 降至 3 g·m^-2由 Cobb ₆₀测试测得，耐油脂性从 0 提高到 10，由 Kit 测试测得。此外，上浆过程不会使碗在毒性方面对消费者的健康有害。总而言之，利用稻草浆制造高附加值产品有望减轻空气污染，减少塑料一次性用品，促进农村地区的创业。