Waste Paper Trade and Recycling Policy in India:  A Review

Kamlesh Singh, Sameer Arora, Prashant Gargava

Abstract


Raw materials processing during paper production have a detrimental impact on the environment. The pulp and paper production from the recycled fibers (RCF) consumes less energy, conserves the natural resources and has less environmental impact. It has been estimated that recycling one tonne of waste paper results in a saving of 70% raw material, 60% coal, 43% energy and 70% water, as compared to paper production from wood. India has low waste paper collection and recycling compared to developed countries due to the no effective collection mechanism of waste paper. India also imports a significant quantity of waste paper for processing and reuse. Hon’ble Prime Minister of India has also emphasized on recycling of waste and considering waste as resource and discussed newer techniques / schemes of waste management during 32nd and 75th episodes of ‘Mann Ki Baat’ dated 28th May, 2017 and 28th March, 2021. The government of India has taken several initiatives in the past few years to channelize paper waste and minimize import of secondary material with imported paper. This study investigates paper production in India and role of municipalities in the implementation of the current waste management system. The gaps in the present mechanism of paper recycling and trading have been identified based on several hypothesis study and environmental benefits are derived. The study found that recycling of 6.5 MT of waste could reduce 0.65 MT of GHG emission, 1.52 million m3 of water and 16.25 million tonnes of wood.  The study illustrates a few action points to enhance the domestic recovery of wastepaper and reduce the dependence on imported paper. This study would help in recovery of wastepaper, minimize the dumping of paper in landfill sites, generation of GHGs and reduce the recovered paper import bill value.

Keywords


Recycled paper, recycled fiber, pulp and paper, wastepaper

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