World Paper Forum

RDF sparks tension as paper mills face pollution allegations; BKU raises concerns in Muzaffarnagar.

Tensions erupted in Muzaffarnagar as villagers, led by BKU's Rakesh Tikait, confronted paper mill owners over pollution concerns during a high-level meeting. The dispute centers on Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) use, with Tikait opposing Delhi waste transportation to the district and alleging hundreds of garbage trucks enter daily. Villagers reported contaminated water sources, black soot on rooftops, hazardous air quality, and rising cancer cases, giving factory owners a one-month ultimatum to address pollution issues. Paper Mill Association President Pankaj Agarwal defended the industry, stating mills use processed RDF as approved fuel under Swachh Bharat Mission, not raw garbage, and that RDF causes less pollution than coal while operating under strict monitoring. Tikait demanded transparency in material verification and announced a "Clean and Green Muzaffarnagar" campaign. A monitoring committee from five affected villages will be formed, with the next meeting scheduled for February 2. Agarwal warned that continued intimidation could force factory closures but assured mistakes would be corrected.

Source: https://thepulpandpapertimes.com/news/industry-news/-rdf-sparks-tension-as-paper-mills-face-pollution-allegations--2374

From Base Paper to Barrier Coatings: Pudumjee's ED Outlines Roadmap for Greener Packaging.

Dr. Ashok Kumar, Executive Director of Pudumjee Paper Products, addressed the FPTA webinar on July 26, 2025, outlining challenges in India's fiber-based packaging landscape, emphasizing that while paper is eco-friendly, it requires advanced barrier coatings and specialized converting equipment to compete with plastic packaging. He stressed that successful development requires collaborative efforts among brand owners, paper mills, coating suppliers, and converters, warning that high-quality barrier papers remain expensive and urging realistic expectations about pricing and timeline for market adoption. Dr. Kumar called for increased R&D investment to close India's knowledge gap with European competitors and urged the industry to move past blame games, advocating for patience and teamwork in building the emerging paper-based packaging segment. The session also featured Prof. Dr. Ramjee Subramanian from IIT Roorkee discussing innovation opportunities in FMCG packaging and circularity approaches for barrier paper development.

Source: https://lnkd.in/gmCx7Pqh

Finance Minister Urges Paper Mills to Comply with NIL Rate Supply, Assures Industry of Support.

A delegation from the notebook manufacturing industry, led by Mr. Anuj Jain from Meerut, met with the Finance Minister to discuss critical challenges facing the sector, particularly the issue of domestic paper mills not supplying paper at the NIL GST rate despite government policy requiring notebooks to remain at 0% GST. The Finance Minister advised industry stakeholders to negotiate directly with paper mills to ensure compliance with government policies, emphasizing that every citizen must adhere to government rules, while her ministry closely monitors pricing behavior and the Prime Minister keeps watch on developments. She clarified that zero duty and tax on paper imports are part of existing Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and assured that notebooks would continue under the NIL GST category to benefit students with lower education costs, though she was critical of paper mills not adhering to NIL rate supply despite receiving government support through mechanisms like Minimum Import Price (MIP). JK Paper's President A.S. Mehta warned that it would be difficult to prevent misuse of the zero GST rate and that notebook costs could actually increase by 10-12% due to manufacturers' input tax credit reversals, while the possibility of importing paper and notebooks at nil rate from abroad could benefit large corporates and potentially eliminate small notebook manufacturers.

Source: https://thepulpandpapertimes.com/news/suppliers-section/finance-minister-was-critical-of-paper-mills-not-adhering--2345