Save tree from waste

 

India generates approximately 0.1 million tonnes of municipal solid waste everyday, or about 36.5 million tonnes annually! Of this waste, 40% is just paper. In other words, we produce 14.6 million tonnes of waste paper every year!

Waste paper is not just thrown away or used only for wrapping your purchases at the local kirana shop. Globally, recycling of paper is a huge business. There are global exchanges that deal in waste paper and many countries mandate the recycling of paper.

Machines needed for making recycled paper

Pulping Machine Multi-stage Washer Headbox Felt Paper Machine Dryer

Currently, the recovery of waste paper in India is low at 26% compared to say Germany at 80%, Thailand at 45% and China at 38%, according to the Indian Agro & Recycled Paper Mills Association (IARPMA) estimates. Here, it is pertinent to note that recovery means collecting back for reuse, while recycling means producing paper out of recovered waste paper. This means that out of our consumption of 8.3 million tonnes of paper, only about 2 million tonnes is recovered for reuse. Obviously, there are significant opportunities hidden in paper.
Here, we cover three such businesses—recycling, waste paper collection or recovery, and waste paper based handicrafts.
Paper RecyclingIARPMA projects the demand for paper in India to reach 15 million tonnes by 2015. If we were to reach China’s current level of recovery, then we should be recovering 5.7 million tonnes of waste paper for reuse by then. While the production of recycled paper has increased approximately three folds from just 13% in 1985 to nearly 40% in India, the potential is much larger.

Recycled paper reduces manufacturing cost of paper by almost 40%. Jogarao Bhamidipati Vice President, ITC

Paper produced by recycling is generally of four kinds—writing/printing paper, newsprint paper, duplex boards, and craft paper. Recycled paper is often made into the same grade of paper that it was originally. For example, old newspapers are recycled to produce newsprint, and corrugated cardboard boxes are recycled to produce paper for packaging.
Paper production is a highly capital- and labour-intensive activity. According to PG Mukundan, Secretary General, IARPMA, “Depending on the production capacity of the mill and quality of the output, the initial investment will not be less than 50-100 crores.” Major investments would be on machinery, which includes the pulping machine, multi-stage washer, head box, felt, paper machine, and dryer. Besides these, one would require pollution control equipment, and water treatment plants. Other areas of investment would be into land and buildings—yard for stocking, storage area for keeping and segregating waste paper, and the cutting division. These requirements remain the same for producing different kinds of paper but some processes may vary. For example, for producing craft or brown paper, everything is the same minus bleaching.
Compared to the cost of producing virgin paper, the production cost of recycled paper is much less. According to Jogarao Bhamidipati, Vice President at the ITC Paper boards and Speciality Papers Division (PSPD), “Production cost comes down because for producing virgin pulp, you have to first cut the trees, make it into small chips, cook it, bleach it and make it into pulp. These processes can be avoided by making pulp from waste paper.” He says production costs can be down by about 40% with recycled paper. Cutting down these processes also helps to reduce the levels of pollution caused by paper mills