The average per head usage of disposable
cups in India is estimated at 40 per year. This
includes plastic, paper and ceramic.
The
total consumption of disposable cups is 40
billion as per estimates. The turnover is of the
order of Rs 1,100 crore.
Of
this, paper cups alone make up about 10 per cent
or over Rs 100 crore. The sector has been
growing at a rate of 30 per cent in the last few
years, according to Mr Pradeep Dhobale, Chief of
ITC Paperboards & Speciality Papers Division,
Bhadrachalam.
The
company, which is a leading producer of
speciality paper, has set up a plant at Bollaram,
on the outskirts of Hyderabad, with an
investment of Rs 35 crore. The foodgrade paper
board is manufactured here and supplied to
entrepreneurs, who make these cups, he told
Business Line.
At
present, paper cups, which are recyclable and
eco-friendly, are made by the cottage industry
sector, with a large number of them concentrated
in Tamil Nadu. The users are also predominantly
the BPOs (business process outsourcing
companies) and nuclear families in urban areas,
he added.
Though the turnover from this segment is only Rs
90 crore of the total Rs 2,200 crore turnover of
the ITC company, it is promising. And, since it
is eco-friendly, it helps get carbon credits and
allows trading in future, Mr Dhobale said.
The
company now uses Ozone Eco-friendly Paper (ECF).
Traditionally, chlorine is used for bleaching of
wood pulp as it is the cheapest bleaching
chemical. However, this process generates
effluent containing chemicals called dioxins
which are known to be carcinogenic.
In
advanced nations, the use of chlorine is
prohibited. ITC has pioneered ECF bleaching and
further improved on it in 2008 by introducing
ozone-treated ECF bleaching for its entire
pulping operations, explained Mr Dhobale.
Interestingly, the raw material for the paper —
trees — is a regenerative resource. The ITC has
plantations extending to 85,000 hectares, a
majority of it in Andhra Pradesh. About 8,000
hectares of plantation is enough to meet the
demands at present, he said
The
new technique considerably lowers water
consumption, is environment friendly and
efficient, claimed Mr Dhobale. It has led to
dramatically cleaner effluent discharge and
superior strength properties.
