Go Green!

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Delhi International Airport Limited’s (DIAL’s) Paper Recycling Initiative with ‘Jaagruti’ gets featured in the National Press

Delhi International Airport Limited’s Paper Recycling Initiative with ‘Jaagruti’ gets featured in the National Press on 2nd April, 2012

To read the Online version of this news story, please click here

Excerpt from this story is quoted below:

The Indira Gandhi International Airport here has initiated measures like using recycled papers at its premises in a bid to become a ‘green airport’. After putting in place some of the green initiatives like rainwater, use of natural lights and efforts to reduce emissions, the airport operator, Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), has now decided to use recycled papers in its offices. For this, DIAL has entered into an agreement with an NGO ‘Jaagruti’, which will recycle the waste paper generated in its offices and get the notepads or A4 sheet made from the recycled paper.

 “The collected waste paper would be systematically graded and transported to the recycling mill. There it would be processed to make different quality of recycled paper by using Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) bleaching technology,” a DIAL spokesperson said.

 This would save 17 trees, 26,281 litres of water, 264 kg of air pollution, 1,752 litres of oil, 4077 KW hours of energy, 82.62 cubic feet of landfill space, he claimed. As a part of the initiative, DIAL shared one tonne of paper waste for recycling to Jaagruti. “DIAL is committed to conducting its business in an environment-friendly and sustainable manner at IGI airport by minimising the impact of our activities on the environment and community. Environment Management is an integral part of our business strategy towards achieving credibility and business sustainability,” DIAL CEO I Prabhakar Rao said.

If you or the organisation you work with want to associate with ‘Jaagruti’ under our Paper Recycling Initiative to recycle your waste paper, please contact us by filling the form below or calling us on +91-9818 144 244 or writing to us on contact@jaagruti.org

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Paper. Delhi recycles

Have you ever wondered what happens to the tonnes of paper used/discarded in the government offices in Delhi Government (Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, India) everyday? Here lies the answer-all of it is recycled in a first-of-its-kind initiative undertaken by any state government in India at a ‘Paper Recycling Plant’ that has been set up within the Delhi Secretariat Office Complex itself. Read on for a virtual visit to this ‘green’ initiative:

Paper Recycling Plant at Delhi Secretariat

This ‘Paper Recycling Machine’ was set up on World Environment Day (5th June) 2005 in as part of the Delhi Government’s Bhagidari scheme.

“With just three full-time staff , this unit helps recycle (per day) about 50 kgs of paper on an average and produces 200-250 sheets of recycled paper”, informs Dr. B.C Sabata, Senior Scientific Officer in the Department of Environment, Delhi Government.

Most file covers,  invitation cards and even felicitation certificates used in the Delhi Secretariat are made of recycled paper.

This is how the unit works:

1. It all begins with efficient ‘Segregation’ of waste thus, each office under the Delhi Government has a separate bin placed therein which is to be used only to discard waste paper (without staples and non-laminated). This is then sent to the recycling unit.

Waste paper collected from government offices and sent to/collected at the Delhi Secretariat recycling plant

However, newspapers and glossy sheets are not sent over to this plant and recycled separately at other recycling units.

2.  Waste paper is soaked in water placed in buckets for a couple of hours and then transferred to a ‘Hydrapulper’ in which the soaked paper is converted into fine pulp.

Pulp being made inside the ‘Hydrapulper’

3. The technicians at the plant now pour this pulp on the wire mesh placed in the ‘Univat’. The quantity of pulp pored on the mesh is directly related to the thickness of paper one wants, so it will be more if they want to make paper for the purpose of printing a certificate and less if one wants to make file folders out of it.

3. Then the sheet is transferred gently between sheets of muslin cloth

Step 3: Recycling of Paper

4. About 50 alternating sheets of wet paper pulp sheet and muslin cloth are placed in a ‘Screw Press’ and the water is drenched out completely.

5. The sheets are sun dried and it takes a couple of hours of good sunlight to dry them completely.

6. The sheets are pressed in a ‘Calendering Machine’.

Pressed (left) and non-pressed sheet (right) of recycled paper

7. The pressed sheets are sent to the plant in Ghitorni where they are cut and printed as per the requirements of the various offices in the Delhi Government to make things like the ones shown below.

A certificate made of recycled paper

What next?

Keeping in line with the Delhi Government’s intent to host the first ever ‘green’ Commonwealth Games (that are due to begin from October 3rd, 2010), the Environment Department has  also identified over 80-100 schools having paper recycling units to recycle waste paper that would be generated from different venues of the event.

Do you want to recycle your waste paper? We at ‘Jaagruti’ can help you!

Segregate every tiny little scrap of paper waste in your home and office and not just newspapers and magazines as most of us generally do.

If your organisation/company is interested in getting your waste paper recycled, please contact  JAAGRUTI™ Waste Paper Recycling Services on +91-98101 91625 or mail us at paper@we-recycle.org or post a query below:

How can you segregate every bit of waste paper?

Keep a separate carton aside in your home to dump the tiniest, little piece of scrap paper or cardboard lying in your home- like

– envelopes of letters that reach you in the mail,

– medicine/ointment cartons,

– brown/normal paper bags that we generally get when we buy stuff from the stationary vendor or local chemist shop

– Pamphlets that come in hordes inserted in your daily newspaper

– Movie Tickets, Parking tickets, Bus tickets

and anything else that you can think off !

How does recycling paper help the planet?

Indian consumption of paper is five kilograms per capita, with an expected growth rate of 6-7% per annum over the next five years. By using paper carelessly, we contribute to the depleting forest cover, drastic climate change and water pollution. For every ton of paper, the paper industry guzzles up 2.8 tons of dry timber and 24,000 gallons of water, besides electricity and other resources. Pulp and paper industry is a major contributor in terms of air and water pollution. Recycling of paper not only saves trees and minimises pollution, but also reduces the waste problem by utilizing waste material like used paper, cotton rags and unwanted biomass.

* Recycling Paper helps in-

– Waste Reduction: Paper accounts for a significant amount of municipal waste so recycling paper means less waste and disposal problem

– Energy conservation: 60-70% energy savings over virgin paper production

– Resource conservation:Recycled paper uses 55% less water and helps preserve our forests

– Pollution reduction: Recycled paper reduces water pollution by 35%, reduces air pollution by 74%, and eliminates many toxic pollutants

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Remember: Recycling makes SENSE!

All photos (C) Vasudha Mehta/Jaagruti, 2010

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How to be ‘Eco-friendly’ at work?

(Courtesy: www. environmentgreen.info)

Save Electricity by:

  • Please turn of the monitors on your PC when you leave the office for the day, or leave for some break (especially during weekends).
  • Switch the office lighting to LEDs (Light Emitting Diode) based Lamps or CFLs (Comapct Fluorescent Lamps), they are low on energy consumption and as bright as the ordinary lamps we use.
  • When your meeting in the conference room is finished, take the initiative to turn off the lights in the conference room as you leave.  If you have an enclosed office, do the same.
  • Turn off all task lighting at your desk when leaving for lunch or at the end of the day.
  • Turn off your computer and your power strip and eliminate those “vampire” devices sucking a little energy when off—your monitor, your cell phone charger . . .
  • Replace tinted window panes with transparent ones wherever possible so that we use sunlight efficiently instead of turning on electric lights.
  • Install compulsory power settings for all the office monitors.

Save Paper, reduce e-waste by:

  • Make/Set double-sided prints as the default print style on your Office Printer. This will help in saving lots of paper and also in reducing wastage.
  • Minimize printing and copying! What did they make the computer and e-mails for, if you keep on taking prints of everything all the time?
  • Use the trusted USB drive/Pen Drive to transfer data electronically from one computer system to the other, don’t waste CDs to do these inter-computer transfers…

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle the Office discard:

  • Corporate offices should have two bins – one for the stuff that can be recycled (like paper, refill pens, clips, pins, used envelopes, cardboard boxes, files, aluminium cans, glass bottles etc.) and other bin for non-recyclable goods
  • Pantries should have disposable, bio-degradable wooden stirrers instead of plastic ones.
  • Don’t throw away your Printer Cartridges, get them refilled.  It will also save your office some money and may be just earn you some much-needed brownie points for helping with a cost cut!

While you eat or drink at work:

  • Bring a coffee mug from home and use it rather than paper, Styrofoam or plastic cups.
  • Bring silverware or a plate and bowl to reduce the need for disposable cutlery and paper plates in the breakrooms.
  • Provide some stainless steel spoons to be used within the pantry. Those who wish to use plastic straws may continue to do so, but the consumption of plastic will reduce.
  • Take the required quantity of food during the first serving, and don’t hesitate to have a second helping.
  • Avoid spilling food while serving and creating a mess. This will also ensure the plastic covering stays clean and the caterers don’t need to change it repeatedly.
  • Only fill as much water needed for the day from the water cooler as you need in one go and drink it all before it turns warm. Doing so, will prevent the water (in your filled bottle) from turning warm (as it lies unused/undrinkably warm) and getting you to throw it before refilling your bottle/cup again, the next time you feel thirsty.

In the Toilet:

  • Avoid using the toilet rolls and tissue paper. Get your Office management to install jet-sprayers instead on all the flushes to prevent your hands from reaching out for the toilet rolls.
  • Install the half-flush system on your flush, it will help save half the quantity of water that normally gets used every single time you flush your waste down the drain…
  • Avoid wasting water while you cleanse up your face as you try to unwind after completing an arduous assignment at work. Keep both, your emotions and the tap flow under control!

(Credits: With inputs from Ashish Pal)