Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Ltd expects to commission it 300-tonne-per-day deinking line next month, according to reliable sources.
This will mean the paper manufacturer will add a new source of raw material — recovered paper or used paper — to produce pulp.
This adds to the existing pulp production of about 880 tonnes a day for TNPL, which has an annual paper production capacity of about four lakh tonnes. Its primary raw materials are bagasse, fibrous waste from sugarcane, and pulp wood.
TNPL will need over 400 tonnes of paper daily for the deinking line supplied by Andritz AG, Austria, which bagged the Rs 175-crore contract. Raw material will be sourced from the domestic market and imports.
The deinking plant will produce high-grade pulp that will support production of printing and writing paper. As a relatively lower-cost raw material, the recycled pulp will help TNPL be cost competitive, the source said. According to industry estimates, pulp from recycled paper will be about one-third cheaper than conventional wood pulp.
The total pulp production will exceed the company’s requirement and it will consider selling the surplus in the market till captive production is stepped up. The deinking line will add to sales revenue and net income of the company.
An offshoot of this project will be the strengthening of TNPL’s reputation in conservation. Nearly two-thirds of its raw material will be bagasse, which is agriculture waste, and recycled paper. The balance alone would be from pulp wood, for which it has a major ongoing social forestry and plantation programme, spread over nearly one lakh acres.