Commercial Paper Bag Production

The global environment is evolving with each day that it turned to be a threat to every
living being because every nation is trying to develop their countries without taking into account
the environmental effects of destruction and contamination of agricultural land. The factories
that are steadily established are increasing and the production processes involve hazardous
chemicals and materials. Humans use plastic bags, which are environmentally hazardous goods,
for their everyday needs primarily for shopping purposes as a result of which, the environment
and agricultural lands are polluted. (Jalil, Mian, and Rahman, 2013)

Today, there are various types of shopping bags are available in the market to cater the
different shopping needs of people. Simultaneously, there are limitless variety of raw materials
and technologies that are utilized to manufacture them. The most common ones are plastic and
paper bags, and they are also subject to numerous constructive criticisms. (Muthu, Li, Hu, and
Mok, 2009).

Paper bags are made of pulpwood from trees, which is a sustainable source.
Nonetheless, we get paper bags by cutting trees that, on the other hand, blemish both plants and
animals. It is also produced by coal-fired or natural gas energy. As a result, the pulp produced
will be converted into a paper bag by various processes and machines after absorbing enormous
quantities of energy from electricity, fossil fuels, various chemicals, etc. (Muthu, Li, Hu, Mok,
and Ding, 2012).

Traditionally, paper bags have been presented as a more environmentally friendly

alternative compared to plastic bags. Before the invention of jute bags, paper bags were the most
widely used for shopping purposes. The natural fibers of paper and the renewable resource used
have a positive picture, as the rise in the amount of paper bags likely to be shipped to landfill
sites has now taken on a new position in the recycling choices that are firmly developed. It has
been scientifically proven that paper bags are not harmful to the environment, such as plastic
bags. Jalil, Mian, and Rahman (2013)
Reference:

Jalil, M. A., Mian, M. N., & Rahman, M. K. (2013). Using plastic bags and its damaging impact
on environment and agriculture: An alternative proposal. International Journal of Learning &
Development, 3(4), 1-14.

Muthu, S. S., Li, Y., Hu, J. Y., Mok, P. Y., & Ding, X. (2012). Eco-impact of plastic and paper
shopping bags. Journal of engineered fibers and fabrics, 7(1), 155892501200700103.

Muthu, S. S., Li, Y., Hu, J. Y., & Mok, P. Y. (2009). An exploratory comparative study on eco-
impact of paper and plastic bags. Journal of fiber bioengineering and informatics, 1(4), 307-320.
Process of Recycling Wastepaper into Paper

In order for paper manufacturers to remain competitive and sustainable, they must be able
to produce at a low cost of production at a minimum level of resource consumption. One such
solution to reducing production costs and taking environmental concerns into consideration may
be the implementation of waste paper recycling and repurposing. Cheung and Pachisia (2015).

Paper is produced using cellulose fibers as raw material; it can be obtained from waste
paper, virgin wood or non-wood material. These fibers are then passed through mechanical or
chemical processing to form pulp, which is then machined to form paper. Paper is often referred
to as a recyclable commodity because it can be recycled at the end of its first life. Rahman,
Hussain, and Basri (2014)

Paper recycling is one of the most well-established recycling programs currently

implemented for waste materials. Pivnenko, Eriksson, and Astrup (2015). However, there is a
limitation for the number of times a paper can be recycled. Every time the paper is recycled, the
fiber becomes shorter, weaker and more brittle. Generally, the waste paper can be recycled up to
seven times before it is disposed. Kumar(2017) Rahman, Hussain, and Basri (2014)

Offices, households and industrial establishments are the three primary

consumption sectors of paper. White papers (WPs) are used for academic purposes; newsprint
papers are used in the newspaper industry, such as news media; and corrugated boards are used
in packaging. High-grade white papers are often used for commercial purposes as official
documents. Moreover, different types of papers are used for different purposes; for example,
glossy papers are used for magazines. In addition, paper use is commonly divided into three
categories: (1) industrial use (for filtering, packing, electrical use and wrapping), (2) cultural use
(for printing, writing, newspaper and currency) and (3) food packaging (for candy wrappers,
food wrappers, tea bags, and coffee filters). Rahman, Hussain, and Basri (2014)

The prominent parties in the flow of recyclable waste paper are the vendor – consumer,
distributor, godown owner, supplier and the manufacturer/paper factory. The vendor–customer
entity is known to be the primary source of waste paper. The end user of the finished paper/paper
goods stores the paper in a bin or in a storage area for post-use recycling. The vendor–customer
represent the bin or collection area. The dealer receives the waste paper from the seller–
customers. The waste paper collected includes both relevant and non-relevant waste. The dealer
supplies the waste paper collected to the godown owner. At this point, recyclable and non-
recyclable waste papers are separated. Afterwards, the recyclable waste papers are then divided
into categories according to the demand of the paper producer or the paper industry for
acceptable pricing. The supplier gathers the relevant waste paper for recycling from the
godown owner and supplies it to the paper industry or manufacturers. Rahman, Hussain, and
Basri (2014)

On one hand, Kumar (2017) reported that the procedure of recycling waste paper most
often involves mixing used/old paper with water to break it down. It is chopped up by a beater.
The waste paper pulp is prepared and purified by the filter and automation system. After
filtering, the filtered pulp is pressed by the screw press machine. After drying under the sunlight,
the filtered and pressed pulp is passed through a roller machine to smooth the recycled material.
The terminals of the prepared recycled paper are not so clean, so a the cutting machine was
used to cut and clean the paper terminals. Clean and smooth recycled paper has now been ready
for use again.

On the other hand, according to, Rahman, Hussain, and Basri (2014) and Cheung and
Pachisia (2015), in the production of recycled pulp, pulp from recyclable waste paper is
produced by grinding the waste paper collected in water. After de-inking and elimination of
impurities, the pulp is ready for the manufacture of paper. Waste paper fibers are worn down or
downgraded as they are being recycled. Furthermore, the addition of virgin pulp is required in
order to maintain the total stock of paper during the processing of recycled paper from waste
paper obtained. Waste paper pulping normally takes less energy per ton of pulp than pulping
processes using virgin fiber. In addition, this method saves virgin fiber inputs in the manufacture
of paper.

In comparison to the chemical pulping of virgin wood, waste paper pulping does not
produce wood waste or dissolved chemicals for energy production. As a result, when waste paper
utilization is increased, the supply of biomass energy is decreased and the reliance on energy
purchased, such as fossil fuels, is increased. Rahman, Hussain, and Basri (2014). Cheung and
Pachisia (2015) also stated that the processing of pulp and paper from virgin pulp produces less
waste, but the waste has similar properties to waste from the production of de-inked pulp. This
method of de-inking waste paper, which enables the re-use of waste paper, can be referred to as
waste paper recycling. Consequently, the method of converting recycled paper into cardboard,
printing paper or newspaper is referred to as waste paper repurposing. The repurposing of
recycled paper involves the grinding, de-inking and remodeling of the pulp.

Reference:

Cheung, W. M., & Pachisia, V. (2015). Facilitating waste paper recycling and repurposing via
cost modelling of machine failure, labour availability and waste quantity. Resources,
Conservation and Recycling, 101, 34-41.

Kumar, V. (2017). Recycling of waste and used papers: a useful contribution in conservation of
environment: a case study. Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, 14(4), 31-36.

Rahman, M. O., Hussain, A., & Basri, H. (2014). A critical review on waste paper sorting
techniques. International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 11(2), 551-564.

Pivnenko, K., Eriksson, E., & Astrup, T. F. (2015). Waste paper for recycling: Overview and
identification of potentially critical substances. Waste management, 45, 134-142.