To a question “How many of you use a Tablet, e-Readers or any electronic medium?” some dozen hands go up in the seminar hall packed with paper industry representatives.
“That is about 15 per cent here. Last week, in Brussels, the number was over 75 per cent,” and that too was among paper manufacturers and related industries, commented Mark Rushton, Editor, Pulp and Paper International, and RISI Web site.
Rushton made the point to illustrate the threat that the electronic medium posed to paper. Global paper consumption was down to 92 million tonnes in the current year from 102 million tonnes in 2008. That is about as much as India's annual consumption, an industry representative pointed out.
The threat, however, is not just due to changing technology or market preferences. It is double-edged. The worry it causes is on perception of being environment friendly while paper is believed to exploit natural resources.
N. Gopalaratnam, Chairman and Managing Director, Seshasayee Paper, argued that nothing could be further from the truth. The industry has failed to correct this misconception to its own cost. Paper manufacturers need to work together to highlight the environment friendly nature of the product. It uses woody raw material from managed plantations, the greenery helps absorbs carbon dioxide and mitigates global warming, the product is fully biodegradable and recyclable. The message has to go out to the young in schools and colleges. “We are fighting a war with the electronic medium.”
It is electronic equipment on the other hand that is a major hazard. Just a fraction, about 10-15 per cent of the electronic equipment can be recycled. It is a hazardous waste at the end of its life, he said, addressing a seminar on paper industry organised by RISI, a multinational information provider for forest product industry.
Industry initiatives
Yogesh Agarwal, Managing Director and CEO, BILT, felt that paper manufacturers need to draw the attention of consumers to the industry’s unique capability to address carbon build up in the atmosphere with its plantations.
Pradeep Dhobale, Executive Director, ITC Ltd, said the company has a major programme on to communicate the sustainable nature of paper. It reaches over 500,000 school students on recycling paper and other issues.
The FMCG sector spends 10-15 per cent of turnover on reaching its consumers; business-to-business companies spend 3-4 per cent; but paper makers do not earmark even a fraction towards communication, he said.