There are lot of myths surrounding paper, being not an environment-friendly product. However, the reality is far from this. Consumer awareness is needed to generate awareness and bring the change. Two significant global pollution problems being faced are disposal of single-use plastic and e-waste. Paper provides an eco-friendly alternative in both areas. Naynesh Pasari, MD, Shree Krishna Paper Mills & Industries Ltd. (SKPMIL), India’s First innovator of unbleached chemical-free paper and the first company to introduce Eco-friendly Sustainable Copier Paper, busts a few myths related to Paper and Paper industry.
1. MYTH : Paper leads to degradation of Environment
FACT: Paper is one of the most environmentally sustainable product as it is biodegradable, recyclable and is produced from sources which are renewable and sustainable. Paper can be recycled up to 10-11 times, making it one of the most recycled products in the world.
2. MYTH: Paper is expensive as compared to its alternatives
FACT: Since paper can be recycle 10-11 times and recycled paper is even cheaper than the virgin paper, recycled paper is a cheaper alternative and provides a viable alternative to single-use plastic in several applications.
3. MYTH: Paper industry is not eco-friendly
FACT: Paper is made from resources which are renewable and can be easily regenerated. Paper industry continuously grows more trees through its agro/farm forestry initiative than it harvests. Paper is made from cultivated trees (trees-outside-forests) planted specially for this purpose. Trees cultivated for paper production emit tonnes of oxygen before they are harvested, thus helping the environment through carbon sequestration.
Paper industry is not only conserving the environment but also regenerating natural resources. It uses mainly degraded marginal land to grow trees for paper. And also recycles the wastepaper and agricultural waste (like wheat straw) which otherwise would have been burnt in the fields. Paper industry has therefore struck a fine balance between growth and sustainability, unmatched by many other industries.
4. MYTH: Making paper involves lot of water
FACT: On the water front, a few years ago, paper industry used to consume 200 cubic metres of water to produce a tonne of paper. Now, the integrated mills have reduced that to 50 cubic metres. Efforts are on to bring it further down to 35-40 cubic metres by inducting a whole range of water conservation technologies.
5. MYTH: Recycled Paper can’t be used for official purposes
FACT: It can certainly be used in offices as well as educational institutions. The mindset of people using the paper needs to be changed. As long as the matter is readable, the colour of the paper should not matter. we do use coloured paper for our special needs like making presentations, graphs, etc. Even our digital presentations are on coloured background so what’s the big deal in using an unbleached recycled paper which is not too white. The paper quality is similar, in terms of texture, thickness etc, only difference is the colour of the paper. Infact, looking at the enormous benefit to the environment and also cost savings, it makes all the more sense to start using unbleached photocopier paper in offices and notebooks in educational institutes.