Should we support Paper Industry?
Let us go back to a few years ago, before the onset of this digital world, and try to imagine a world without books and newspapers. Indeed, our fathers and grandfathers could have never thought of a morning without newspapers. Paper has been an integral part of our daily lives, be it in books, newspapers, documents, and whatnot. At one point in time, the paper industry had flourished to such an extent that people involved in this industry had earned wealth and much respect in society. To understand the onset of this extraordinary thing, we should first look at the historical advancements in building the paper industry.
What is the history of the origination of paper?
If we walk down history lane, we can find that a plant called Papyrus was first used in Egypt in the 4th century BC as a writing sheet. However, it was only in the period 200-250 AD that the first actual paper was made in the Chinese Civilization, and this can be called the first paper industry on Earth. With this discovery came the advent of written records of history and the print culture. Textual literature gained popularity among the masses in a brief period. In this way, paper became a commoner’s necessity and a household good.
What are the problems in this industry?
The paper industry faces the main competition today from the digital world. Digitalization becomes more relevant and necessary for us as we progress towards technological developments. In this scenario, what we used to read in the pages of books, we are reading on our mobile and laptop screens in eBooks. Also, we cannot deny that the paper industry’s source of raw materials is trees. In today’s world, where we are dealing with global ecological and environmental crises, cutting trees to make paper is not a good choice when digital technology is available. Also, the paper industry involves using chemicals on a large scale that can cause harm to our environment. Considering all these factors, the demand for paper has gradually reduced. However, the cost of production has remained the same; somewhat, it has increased due to the price of commodities. So, all these aspects have led to losses for the paper industries, eventually forcing their closure. Also, the paper industry uses petrochemicals for various works. As we all know, petrochemicals are very expensive, leading to increased production costs for the paper industry. Energy consumption is also considerably large in this industry.
What can be the solution?
Now the question arises, what can be the solution to this problem? Looking from a social perspective, people have grown to be more interested in electronic media, and thus bringing back the audience catering to newspapers and books is difficult. A solution can be that the paper industry must reduce the prices without compromising the quality of the product to attract customers. We have often seen how the overall outlook of newspapers and books is dull and colorless; this must be corrected by making the color schemes of papers and books more vibrant and attractive. The paper industry is known to be a significant user of dyes used for printing. We all know that dyes are harmful to the environment, and their use is not sustainable. So, using the knowledge of chemical Engineering, we need to find organic and biodegradable substitutes for synthetic dyes.
Also, the cost incurred in the process of printing must be reduced. Even more important is to find cheap and accessible alternatives for the raw materials for the paper industry. This will reduce the cutting and usage of trees. At the same time, the paper industry needs to shift from using petrochemicals and other renewable energy sources to more sustainable and non-renewable energy like wind power, solar power, and turbines. Machines in these industries need to be renovated to make them more efficient and less energy-consuming. The primary thought behind all these is that the sector’s revenue minus the cost of production gives the profit obtained. Thus, to increase profit, the industry needs to reduce the cost incurred and growing increase revenue by improving demand and reaching out to a larger audience pool. A great way of reducing cost and increasing profit is by the process of RECYCLING, which has been due to engineering and Science. Recycling allows using a product repeatedly after adequate modifications until its use value becomes null. This helps in producing many products, using raw materials for one time. This helps conserve energy and natural resources and makes the industry profit. As a result, the production process becomes more sustainable and eco-friendly.
Thus, in this world, keeping the process of production along the lines of sustainability and keeping consumer needs in mind, the paper industry can flourish and make itself great once again.
Written By: Susmit Neogi
Image Source: Google
NSS IIT Bombay 