JK Paper Aims To Become Net Zero Emission Company By 2040, Says A S Mehta

The president and director of JK paper lists down the various steps taken by the company to reduce its emissions and combat pollution. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi set a target of bringing down India’s carbon emission to zero by 2070. With this goal in mind, the corporate sector is leaving no stone unturned and is marching towards this direction with unbeatable zeal. amongst the list of corporations doing responsible business is JK paper, one of India’s leading paper companies.  

In a freewheeling conversation with Outlook Business, A S Mehta, the president, and director of JK paper, talks about the steps taken towards this goal, the results yielded so far and the targets to achieve going forward.

Mr. A S Mehta, President and Director, JK Paper

THERE IS MISCONCEPTION THAT WE HAVE TO CUT TREES TO PRODUCE PAPER. WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO THIS?  

This is a misconception in society about the paper industry. In fact, we need to plant many more trees than we need for our paper plantations.  If we talk about the forest cover in the country, in the last 10 years, the increase in the forest cover has been something around two per cent. And out of that two per cent, close to one per cent has been planted by the paper industry.    

Instead of giving credit to the paper industry for greening, the other way round is being talked about that the paper industry is cutting forest to produce paper. The paper produced in the country comes from trees that are grown by the leading Indian Paper producers through social farm forestry that are harvested like any other crop and not cut. We do plantation, but we harvest less than what we plant and that is the reason that JK paper is considered to be a wood positive and a carbon positive company, so it means we plant more than what we need. Hence, people need to correct their narrative.    

  
PLASTIC IS A STUMBLING BLOCK IN INDIA’S PATH TO NET ZERO. HOW IS JK PAPER TRYING TO REDUCE PLASTIC POLLUTION?   

We need to be cognizant to the fact that plastic is ultimately hazardous, and it is creating pollution around the world. In fact, the pile of plastic is much more than we can think of and year after year it is piling up. So, there has to be a greater awareness on plastic and its use, but at the same time we need to work collectively, there has to be a holistic approach on how to replace plastic.   

When we talked about this, JK Paper in its own way thought about this and in fact we introduced many products that could replace plastic. Like, we make paper for paper cups, and this is replacing plastic glasses and thermocol glasses.  

In the same way, we have already introduced paper straw instead of plastic straw. Similarly, we have introduced paper sticks to be used in ear buds. Many other products like paper plates, paper bags, etc. are made from grades of paper produced by us.
  
WHAT IS JK PAPER’S PLAN TO REDUCE CARBON EMISSION?   

This is something very close to our heart and we are very focused on this issue. The atmosphere that we got from mother earth; we need to leave this in a better state for our future generations. This has been the thought process in our mind. Our expansion in copier segment during the year 2011, that was completed in 2013, took into account that our whole process and mindset should be reducing carbon emission, and also reducing use of other natural resources.

You will be amazed to know that before the new expansion in copier, we were consuming close to 1.5 kilo grams (kg) of coal per kg of paper produced. With new technology and modernization, we are now producing a kg of paper by consuming just 500 grams of coal. At our Rayagada facility, close to 70 per cent of our total energy consumption is met by green energy. This used to be only 30 per cent or 35 per cent earlier. Prime Minister Modi has set a target for 2070, but at JK paper we are working to achieve that goal 30 years prior to 2070. By 2040, we want to be a zero-carbon emitting company.   
  
HOW IS THE COMPANY FOLLOWING CIRCULAR ECONOMY PRINCIPLES?  

When we talk about the circular economy, it means that we need to recycle and reuse. As I said earlier, our paper is fully biodegradable. It is recyclable paper. So, when I produce a paper which is a working paper, it is recycled, reprocessed at least seven times by people. The best example of circular economy is that the water used by us, 85 per cent of the water is again re- treated.  And that treated water is very good. It has nutrients. In fact, our Gujarat plant practically is zero water emission, zero water discharge in the water bodies because we provide that water by laying the pipeline to the farmer and the farmer use that water in the irrigation because that nutrient rich water is very good for farmers.  This is an example of a circular economy. 
  
CORPORATIONS ARE TRANSITIONING TOWARDS GREENER POWER, MAKING USE OF SOLAR AND WIND ENERGY.  HOW IS YOUR COMPANY TAPPING INTO GREEN POWER?    

Green power is close to over 50 per cent of the power we use because in the paper industry there is an inherent use of wood.  So, the residue of wood is used as an energy source. We use the residue as a fuel for generating energy. So, in a way, it is a renewable form of energy. Also, when you produce pulp, there’s methane gas that is emitted out. We found a new technology to convert that methane gas into methanol. I mean the government is talking about ethanol.  We are talking about methanol.  In fact, our Rayagada plant is the first one in the whole of Southeast Asia where we have put up the methanol plant from methane to methanol and that energy and that fuel is used in our lime kiln.  In this manner, we have again reduced carbon emission by reducing furnace oil production.  This is what we have been doing and now we have started it in Gujarat also. 
  
WHAT IS YOUR ROADMAP FOR REDUCING CARBON EMISSIONS?  

I can say without any hesitation that our internal target is to have zero fossil fuel consumption by 2040.  No coal consumption, no petrol consumption.  Let’s keep it green and that is the target we have now.