ITC to step up domestic waste paper collection

With more and more paper mills switching to waste paper as key raw material, ITC Paperboards and Speciality Papers Division (ITC-PSPD), one of the largest waste paper consumers in the country, is intensifying its "recycling initiative", an activity involving domestic waste paper collection.

The company is currently knocking on the doors of residential colonies, apartments, townships, corporates, hotels, government and non-government organisations, industries, banks and educational institutions in Andhra Pradesh with the slogan, 'used paper is not waste "" let us reuse & recycle every bit of it'.

"Paper consumption in India is estimated to touch 16 million tonnes by 2015 and the paper industry capacity is expected to double during this time leading to shortage of raw material. Today, ITC alone consumes 2 lakh tonnes of waste paper per annum, which is likely to increase to 3 lakh tonnes. Given this scenario, recovered paper is the only answer to ever increasing raw material requirements," ITC-PSPD vice-president (commercial), Jogarao Bhamidipati, told Business Standard.

ITC started the recycling initiative in April this year, and has so far approached 17 residential colonies, 24 apartment complexes, 4 townships, five corporates, two hotels, three municipalities and 350 schools besides various public sector undertakings and non-government organisations. It has set up a six-member team to exclusively look after this activity.

"We are collecting 50-60 tonnes of waste paper per month at present. Our target is to touch 500 tonnes per month by March 2008. We also intend to expand this initiative to Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the next five years," Bhamidipati said, adding that the company would set up a material recycling plant here, once the volume of waste paper collection reaches the desired level.

During the current financial year, ITC's plans for Andhra Pradesh include covering the entire twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad besides expanding to Khammam, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam. The company, which started collecting waste paper from Satyam Computers, Wipro Technologies, Infosys and ITC Kakatiya hotel, is trying to rope in as many corporates as possible.

For collection of waste paper from households, ITC is providing each household with plastic bags in which dry recyclables like paper, plastic and metal can be kept. ITC collects this waste by paying Rs 3.50 per kg. For this, the company sends its vehicle along with an electronic weighing machine.

According to Bhamidipati, only 14 per cent of an estimated 6 million tonnes of domestic waste paper generated in the country annually is being recovered at present. Hyderabad alone generates 2,500 tonnes of waste every day. Of this, 40 per cent is dry waste.

Apart from meeting the requirement of the paper industry, waste paper collection would be helpful in reducing landfill and protecting the environment.

The expenses incurred by municipalities in managing waste would also come down, he said.