Sep 27, 2006 :: Nepa Mills recycles newspapers

Started in 1956, Nepa Mills in MP was using Salai wood and bamboo to make paper. This has creates considerable pressure on forests. Then in the late eighties, while expanding capacity, the mills switched to old newspapers as its main feedstock. It now seelks to buy 6,000 tonnes of old newspapers a month. The long and wide nationwide network of rag-pickers, aggregators and big dealers have got busy. Supplies are coming in from Hyderabad, Mumbai, Nagpur, Bangalore and Chennai.

Businessline ran a story on it today because a Chennai vendor has won a competitive tender to supply 3,000 tonnes per month and has already supplied 20,000 in five months. Before that, most of the newspaper waste was sent to Sivakasi to produce crackers that are produced often using child labour. And crackers pollute the air and leave a litter of shredded paper on the ground.