Many Indian cities including Delhi and Mumbai are grappling with rising air pollution. With the festive season just days away, the traditional practice of bursting firecrackers has the potential to exacerbate this issue. Green crackers or eco-friendly crackers, offer an ideal substitute to traditional crackers. Here’s all you need to know about green crackers and why they are a better alternative to traditional crackers.

What are green crackers and what are they made of? Green crackers are eco-friendly crackers that are made using less polluting raw materials. They cause less pollution as compared to normal crackers and their chemical composition also helps them suppress dust when they are burnt. In fact, in some green crackers there are no harmful chemicals at all.

How do green crackers work? Unlike normal firecrackers, green crackers do not use harmful polluting chemicals like arsenic, lithium, barium etc. Whereas chemicals such as aluminium, lead, carbon etc are used in a reduced quantity. This helps reduce the emissions from the crackers. Also, when green crackers burst, it releases water vapour which doesn’t allow the dust to rise.

Launch and manufacturing of green crackers | Researched and developed by CSIR-NEERI (Council of Scientific & Industrial Research – National Environmental Engineering Research Institute), green crackers were launched in 2019. Currently, there are three types of green crackers available in India – SWAS (Safe Water Releaser), STAR (Safe Thermite Cracker), and SAFAL (Safe Minimal Aluminium).

Who can manufacture green crackers? Companies and manufacturers can get into an agreement to use CSIR-NEERI’s formulation to make green crackers after signing non-disclosure agreements for the formulation. The Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) gives the licence after emission tests.

How to identify green crackers? All green crackers come with a QR code and a CSIR-NEERI certified green logo on the packaging.

Are green crackers really effective? The noise pollution emitted by regular crackers are about 160 decibels. Whereas green crackers’ emission rate is limited to 110-125 decibels. Green crackers are believed to cause 30% less particulate matter pollution as compared to traditional crackers.