ITC starts an innovative paper recycling initiative !
THE unorganised kabaadi–reusable waste– industry is opening up to new entrants from the organised sector. ITC Paperboards and Speciality Papers, an arm of the ITC Group, is on course to start an innovative paper recycling initiative at its new plant at Bhadrachalam in Andhra Pradesh. It has tied up with Satyam, Infosys, Wipro and GE for this initiative that entails picking up waste from schools, government offices and residential areas. The company has launched a door-to-door dry waste collection programme in Hyderabad and Coimbatore which will be extended to Chennai, Vijayawada and Vizag soon.
While waste paper will be used directly by ITC, plastic and metal will be sold to the concerned recycling industries, he added. ITC Paperboards currently produces around 4,35,000 tonnes of paper per annum. The plan is to source the entire raw material from eco-friendly paper waste over the next five years. “We want to extend the pilot project to the entire country, giving an organised form to the largely unorganised kabaadi (reusable waste) industry,” Jagarao Bhamidipati, vice-president Commercial ITC told . India generates more than seven lakh tonnes of dry waste per annum of which 40% is paper. One tonne of waste paper raw material can generate an equivalent amount of recycled paper. The total demand for paper is around eight million tonnes per annum and this is expected to rise to 10 million tonnes by 2012 and 21 million tonnes by 2020, according to ITC’s estimates. “All waste is now being bought at Rs 3.50 per kg, but we plan to offer around Rs 8 per kg for plastics and metals over the next 5 months,” he said.
ITC is now looking at setting up 2-3 sorting centres in Hyderabad with an investment of Rs 2 crore on each plant. “China recycles as much as 70% of its waste. In Europe and the US, this figure ranges between 80-90% and helps in cutting down 40% of the municipal bodies’ burden in terms of cost,” a senior ITC official said. The company has also tied up with a niche Pune based firm Deluxe Recycling to produce new materials from recycled waste. The company will source material from ITC to make a range of products including tiles, door boards, furniture etc. Swedish packaging major Tetrapak has also tied up with Deluxe to recycle its tetrapak waste into useable items.
