In its commitment to be an active participant in Swachchh Bharat Abhiyaan, the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has derived a novel way to end the plastic menace under its unique project named REPlAN (REducing PlAstic in Nature).
Keeping in mind the present theme for the year 2018, taken globally on the World Environment Day as 'Beat Plastic Pollution', KVIC chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena launched a freshly made polythene-mixed carry bags at Kumarappa Handmade Paper Institute (KNHPI) Jaipur.
When Saxena visited (KNHPI) in Sanganer ( Jaipur), a KVIC unit on August 2, and saw piles of polythene waste in the suburb areas of the city, he thought its utilisation in handmade paper making. "
"I asked the KNHPI officials to collect plastic garbage from the nearby drainage and after necessary cleaning and processing, mix the plastic waste in the paper pulp up to 20 percent to ascertain whether plastic waste can be utilized in handmade paper industries or not," says Saxena.
Accordingly, plastic waste was collected and the experiment was done on utilisation of various types of plastic waste including High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) and low-Density Polyethylene (lDPE) for its utilization in paper making up to 20 percent and experiment was found very successful. The preliminary studies showed potential of utilisation of polyethylene waste in handmade paper making to make the cost effective paper carry bags etc.
This may become a great revolutionary step towards maintaining environment and green earth, Saxena said.
The project has been coined as REPlAN ( REmoving PlAstic from Nature). From experiment to launch of commercial production of handmade paper bags with mixed plastic waste has been completed in a record 28 days .
In the project REPlAN, the waste plastic from nature is collected, followed by the process of cleaning, chopping, beating and chemical treatment for softness .After that, it is mixed with the paper raw material i.e cotton rags pulp in a ratio of 80 % (pulp) and 20% (plastic waste) and finally sheet making.
Earlier, the cost of production of handmade paper made of white cotton rags was Rs 1,00,000 per MT. However, after mixing polythene waste it has come down to Rs 66,000 per MT. i.e reduction of 34% in the cost of production.
"WE don't claim that the project REPlAN has found an absolute solution to plastic menace but it's an experiment to remove the existing waste plastic material from nature and use it in a semi-permanent manner, so that availability of plastic in nature is reduced to a large extent and bound into usable products that do not cause the kind of problems plastic causes at present," saxena said.