Save a Tree – Hand Over the Waste Paper!
Knauf International Company - one of the world’s leading manufacturers of construction and finishing materials, conducts its activities in Russia and CIS, based on international standards of quality. Respect for tradition, implementation of innovations and high level of responsibility are common to all enterprises included in the main body structure. Today Knauf represents a major project for collecting waste paper from the people to revive this forgotten practice that helps to make our cities cleaner and save the forest from logging.
The main product of the international Knauf Group is high quality gypsum plasterboard, of KNAUF plasters - made of two major components: binder paste on the basis of natural gypsum and paper board, which is produced from waste paper and special additives. The largest Russian producer of recycled paperboard is a St. Petersburg Cardboard and Printing Plant, owned by the Knauf CIS Group.
Waste paper - is outdated manufactured paper and cardboard products, which the share of industrial waste is 0.9%, and in municipal solid waste (MSW) reaches 30%. According to Russian standards, 70% of cardboard and paper products (CPP) are applicable for gathering and further recovery. Of this amount, according to statistics of municipalities, really are gathered for about 35%.
The relatively low level of the waste paper preparation in Russia could be explained by the weak population involvement in this process, including the lack of separate garbage collection practices. According to expert estimates, currently through the manufacturer’s redemption centers are procured only 1-3% of the total waste paper collection, whereas their potential in this process is estimated to be 15-20%. At the same time, in Western Europe the proportion of the waste paper collected by local population accounts for about 38% of total amount.
The index of waste paper recovery - the ratio of recycled wastepaper to total consumption of cellulose and paper products (CPP) - all over the world is civilized country indicator. 1 ton of waste paper saves 13 trees, 2.5 barrels of oil, 31,780 liters of water and reduces at 4 cubic meters the amount of garbage in landfills. According to official data, for the storage of all types of waste in Russia allocated over 2 million hectares of land, meanwhile the majority of waste storage capacity is exhausted, and the rest of them are almost filled up. And how many there are illegal dumps - nobody knows!
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text by Leonid Los’, PR Di rector of Knauf CIS Group