Paper firms cut water use by 80%, invest in sustainable processes: IPMA

An industry body said on Monday that the country’s paper industry has cut water consumption by 80 percent and is looking to cut it further as investments worth Rs 25,000 crore have been made in sustainable production processes in the past few years.

The Indian Paper Manufacturers Association (IPMA) said in a statement that several industry players have taken environmentally friendly measures to reduce carbon and water emissions.

The company said in a statement that the players deployed modern technical solutions and captive power generation to achieve water and energy efficiency.

“Integrated paper mills have reduced water usage to 40 cubic meters to produce a ton of paper from 200 cubic meters earlier. There is a concerted effort to reduce it further,” said Pawan Agarwal, Chairman of IPMA.

“The Indian paper industry has invested up to Rs 25,000 crore in sustainable production processes and capabilities in the last few years,” said Agarwal.

Agarwal said that the paper industry has reduced energy consumption and integrated plants produce 40 percent of the electricity by utilizing biomass from the pulping process.

The IPMA President claimed that the paper industry was one of the best performing sectors under the government’s PAT (Trade Achievement Performance) scheme under the National Mission to Improve Energy Efficiency (NMEEE).

In terms of the main raw material sources, wood, Agarwal said the paper industry has seized “positive wood” as more trees have been planted than harvested for pulp making.

“The industry has worked consistently with over 5 peripheral farms over the past several years and has successfully cultivated 12 hectares of largely degraded land,” the IPMA said.