ellieueb2

When waste paper collection is good business plan R. Balaji Chennai, Aug. 21 ITC’s Paperboards and Specialty Papersdivision is expanding its waste paper collection programme in SouthIndia. It has launched the programme in Chennai through a tie-upwith leading IT companies and is in talks with local bodies toreach residential areas.

 Waste paper is the primary raw material for the division, whichrecycles the paper to produce paperboards to make packagingmaterials. In the absence of an organised waste paper collectionsystem, the company now meets half its daily requirement of wastepaper through imports.

 ITC has two mills making paperboards — a 1,000-tonne-a-daymill at Bhadrachalam, Andhra Pradesh and a 300-tonne-a-day mill atCoimbatore, Tamil Nadu. It needs an equal quantity of waste paperdaily — old newspaper, magazines, boards — as rawmaterial.

Waste shortage

 According to Mr S. Murugesan, Senior Manager (Materials), ITC Ltd -Paperboards & Specialty Papers Division, mills depending onwaste paper for recycling are facing a shortage of raw material,whether imported or domestic, and increasing costs because ofgrowing demand as mills expand.