Disproving misconception about the paper industry, the Indian Pulp and Paper Technical Association (IPPTA) on Wednesday clarified that the paper industry doesn’t cut forests as assumed for manufacturing paper since nearly 77-80% of the paper that is produced in the country was using recycled paper.
“India produces nearly 25 million tonnes of paper annually and about 18 million tonnes of paper was manufactured from recycled paper. Nearly half of the paper waste used in the manufacturing is imported. Agricultural residues such as bagasse and so on contribute to about 8% of paper manufacturing. Only 12 to 15% of paper was directly made from the pulp of trees. Paper mills don’t cut forests for manufacturing paper and they are in fact growing a lot of trees to meet their own supplies,” said M.K. Goyal, honorary secretary general, IPPTA.
Claiming that the paper industry was supporting the expansion of the green cover, he said the blame on the industry was unwarranted and the industry has been explaining the realities so that misapprehension in the minds of the people about paper manufacturing was removed.
