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Environmental Impact of Paper Industry

Sanni Kumar and S. M. Ali jawaid*
ABSTRACT: This paper covers the paper industry production process and its harmful impact on environment. The pulp and paper
industry is a stationary sources of different emissions wastewater, waste gases and solid wastes. The pulp and paper industry convert
wood and recycle fiber into pulp and primary form of paper. First Mechanical and chemical process are normally employed to produce
pulp from wood.Paper industry are uses the large quantity of water and fuel lead to environmental pollution.Pulp mills are big water
users the total requirement of raw water has through cleaner production measures has been reduced about 200-300 m3 per ton of pulp
in 1970 to well below 50m3/ton, in some mills even below 10 m3/ton. The paper mill are also produces large quantity of particulate
matter, sulphur oxides, volatile organic, solid waste and etc.
KEY WORDS: Pulp & Paper Industry, Environmental Impact, Wastewater, Air Emission, Solid Waste & Pollution Prevention &
Control.
1.

INTRODUCTION

2.

The use of paper by a society is often taken as a yardstick of

its development. The need for documentation of knowledge
and record keeping has long been perceived to be linked to the
intellectual prowess of a nation. The tradition of use of bhoj patra or the bark of the Bhoj Tree for documentation of
our scriptures is acknowledged the world over. Such recording
pre-dates most of their list known documentation on paper like
substances. As time progressed, the need for cheaper means of
documentation of records was felt by civilizations [1].
Worlds primary raw-materials for paper manufacture are 75%
forest woods, 20% waste-paper and 5% other fibrous waste
materials, including agricultural residues.[1,3] People do not
know and they cannot ever think even that to produce one Ton
of paper, 3 Tons of wood is needed, for which 15 to 17 green
trees need to cut. If 8 KG current per capita consumption of
paper in the country, expected to be double by the year 2015,
is a correct figure and the industry is totally based on wood,
about 24 Kg wood at present is being utilized yearly by every
Indian in the form of paper.
This is enough to bring down the Indian forest cover, which is
now left hardly 11.5%, to a single digit figure in the years to
come as against the International norms of minimum 33.3% of
the total land of a country under forestry.
Author: Sanni Kumar is currently pursuing master of
technology program in environmental engineering in
MMM. Engg. College , Gorakhpur India,
E-mail: sanni06bt@gmail.com
*Co-Author: S.M. Ali Jawaidis currently Associate
Professor in MMM. Engg. College , Gorakhpur India,
. E-mail: smaj@rediffmail.com

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Pulp and paper industry generated considerable quantity of

waste water, waste gases and solid waste. The environmental
impact of paper is significant, which has led to changes in
industry and behaviour at both business and personal levels.
With the use of modern technology such as the printing press
and the highly mechanized harvesting of wood, paper has
become a cheap commodity. This has led to a high level of
consumption and waste.[6,7]With the rise in environmental
awareness due to the lobbying by environmental governments
and with increased government regulation there is now a
trend towards sustainability in the pulp and the paper
industry.
Regulated wastes and emissions from the pulp and paper
industry include:

Wastewater.
Solid wastes, and
Air emissions,

2.1 Wastewater and liquid effluent:

Waste water discharges for a pulp and paper mill contains
solids, nutrients and dissolved organic matter, and unless at
low levels these are classed as pollutants. Nutrients such as
nitrogen and phosphorus can cause or exacerbate
eutrophication of fresh water bodies such as lakes and rivers.
Organic matter dissolved in fresh water, measured by
Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), changesecological
characteristics, and in worse case scenarios leads to death of
all higher living organisms [6].Waste water may also be
polluted with organ chlorine compounds. Some of these are
naturally occurring in the wood, but chlorine bleaching of the

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pulp produces far larger amounts. Discharges can also
discolour the waterleading to reduced aesthetics. This has
happened with the Tarawera River in New Zealand which
subsequently became known as the "black drain".
Table no.1 Liquid Effluents from Pulp and
Paper Manufacturing on the basis of Pollution Prevention
and Abatement Handbook WORLD BANK GROUP

dry fibre and 10% water.) Other typical generation rates are:
particulate matter, 75150 kg/t; sulphur oxides, 0.530 kg/t;
nitrogen oxides, 13 kg/t; and volatile organic compounds
(VOCs), 15 kg/t from black liquor oxidation. In the
sulphitepulping process sulphur oxides are emitted at rates
ranging from 15 kg/t to over 30 kg/t. Other pulping processes
such as the mechanical and thermo mechanical
methodsgenerate significantly lower quantities of air
emissions. Steam- and electricity-generating units using coal
or fuel oil emit fly ash, sulphur oxides, and nitrogen oxides.
Coal burning can emit fly ash at the rate of 100 kg/t of
ADP.[9]
Table no.2Air Emissions from Pulp and Paper
Manufacturing on the basis of Pollution Prevention and
Abatement Handbook World Bank Group

Wastewaters are discharged at a rate of 20250 cubic meters

per metric ton (m3/t) of ADP. They are high in biochemical
oxygen demand (BOD), at 1040 kg/t of ADP; total
suspended solids, 10 50 kg/t of ADP; chemical oxygen
demand (COD), 20200 kg/t of ADP; and chlorinated organic
compounds, which may include dioxins, furans, and other
absorbable organic halides, AOX, at 04 kg/t of ADP.
Wastewater from chemical pulping contains 1220 kg of
BOD/t of ADP, with values of up to 350 kg/t.[4]
The corresponding values for mechanical pulping wastewater
are 1525 kg BOD/t of ADP. For chemical pulping, BOD
discharges are 3 to 10 times higher than those for mechanical
pulping. Pollution loads for some processes, such as those
using non wood raw materials, could be significantly different
Phosphorus and nitrogen is also released into wastewaters.
The main source of nutrients, nitrogen and phosphorus
compounds is raw material such as wood. The use of peroxide,
ozone, and other chemicals in bleaching makes it necessary to
use a complexion agent for heavy metals such as manganese.

Table no.3 Analysis of different carbon fractions in paper

mill sludge by (M.T. Rashid Soil & Environ. 25(2): 85-98,
2006)

2.2 Air Emissions:

In the kraft pulping process, highly malodorous emissions of
reduced sulphurcompounds, measured as total reduced sulphur
(TRS) and including hydrogen sulphide, methyl mercaptan,
dimethyl sulphide, and dimethyl disulphide, are emitted,
typically at a rate of 0.33 kilograms per metric ton (kg/t) of
air-dried pulp (ADP). (Air-dried pulp is defined as 90% bone-

2.3 Global Focus on Greenhouse Gases:

The level of C02 in the atmosphere has risen about a quarter to
350 ppm since the start of industrialization, with the rate of
increase being 1.6 ppm per annum. As a result of this, there is
accelerated build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
The global warming trends from a period between 1950- 2000.
The region wise contribution of energy related C02 emission
is shown in Fig. 1

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process or they originate in the wood itself, having been

adsorbed from soil by trees.[5]
Table no.4 Chemical property of Paper Sludge by
(Concrete Research Letters Vol. 1(2) 2010)

2.3.2 Heavy Metals

Fig.1 Accelerated build-up of greenhouse gases in the

atmosphere is best exploitation for global warming

2.3 Solid Wastes

The principal solid wastes of concern include wastewater
treatment sludges (50150 kg/t of ADP). Solid materials that
can be reused include waste paper, which can be recycled, and
bark, which can be used as fuel. Lime sludge and ash may
need to be disposed of in an appropriate landfill.
2.3.1 Chemical composition of sludge:
About 150 chemicals can be detected in deinked paper mill
bio solids (Beauchamp et al., 2002). In general the C, N, P and
K contents of deinking paper mill bio solids are similar to
those of primary paper mill bio solids. The contents of arsenic,
boron, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, manganese, mercury,
molybdenum, nickel, lead, selenium, and zinc are also low and
showed low variability. However, the copper contents were
above the Canadian compost regulation for unrestricted use
and required a follow-up. The fatty- and resin acids and
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were the organic chemicals
measured at the highest concentrations. They further
concluded that raw de-inking paper mill bio solids and its
young compost do not represent a major threat for the
environment but can require an environmental follow-up.
Heavy metals in the sludge are known to pose potential health
risks to plants and animals if present in too high
concentrations. They are strongly retained by soils and
therefore can persist for long periods in the environment.
Heavy metals are present as contaminants in pulp mill sludge
either as a result of chemicals added during the pulping

One of the major public concerns over the use of paper mill
sludge on agricultural land is the potential for heavy metal
contamination of water and plants. Contents of heavy metals
and organic toxic compounds in paper mill sludge are
generally low (Trpanieret al., 1996; Cabral et al.1998;
Demeyer and Verloo, 1999) and comparable to those found in
livestock manure (Bellamy et al.1995). Concentrations of
heavy metals in soil amended with paper mill bio solids or
plants grown in these soils have usually been below
established standards (Simardet al., 1998; Baziramakenga and
Simard 2001). However, our results shows that copper levels
in soil (estimated after crop harvest) after the application of
de-inking paper mill bio solids at 135 Mg ha-1 exceeded the
permissible limits (Goss and Rashid, 2004). These results
suggest that de-inking paper mill bio solids should not be
applied in heavy quantities as a single dose.
Table no.5Heavy metal concentrations in paper mill sludge
from different paper mills by (M.T. Rashid Soil & Environ.
25(2): 85-98, 2006)

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3. CONCLUSION
The paper demand increases every day as a result of
developed population and industrialization. Water and energy
utilization and in particularly waste generation are becoming
more important concern ever worldwide. A major goal is to
decrease damage to environment by waste minimization, reuse
and recycle. To use best available techniques and innovative
methods is becoming more an issue. However, end-of-pipe
treatment is still the major approach to minimize the risk. To
evaluate pollutants and to develop treatment technologies need
a holistic approach.
The major pollution load constitutes wastewaters from pulp
and paper mills. A variety of wastewater is generated from
diverse processes. Different technologies and their
combinations have been used for their treatment. The most
common applied systems are biological treatment, sequential
anaerobic and aerobic systems, followed after primary
treatment. Solid waste management and disposal are also
another concern. During the final disposal step, the aim should
be chemical compound and energy recovery because of
environmental and economical aspects. However, the waste
minimization has still the first and important approach.
Biofilters and bio scrubbers are mostly used for removal of air
pollutants and other applications are limited.
The best available treatment technology for all three waste
phases depends on the production processes, raw materials and
the regulations, which the industries have to obey.
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