PaPerMyths & Facts

Paper has been there for more than 2000 years, and during this time it has established itself as the most effective means of communication and packaging.

We have put together this booklet to dispel some misconceptions around paper and its manufacture and to educate consumers thereby enabling them to take more informed decisions.

Water is one of the resources in the paper industry which is measured on a continuous basis. Agriculture accounts for around 90% of total water consumption in India and its challenges as a result of water stress are aggravated by the huge inequalities in geographical distribution as well as by the fact that the entire monsoon rainfall occurs around a 12-week period.

Given these challenges, ITC is committed to conserve and manage this precious natural resource by:

▶ Performing water audits.

▶ Zero effluent discharge by treating and recycling all wastewater.

▶ Making water available to neighbouring farmer communities during the non-monsoon period.

As on March 31, 2014, ITC’s Integrated Watershed Development Projects, covering nearly 1,49,000 hectares of land, support the Water Positive status of the Company for the 12th year in a row.

The total rainwater harvesting potential so far created by the Company is over two times the net water consumption by our operations.

In 2013-14, the Bhadrachalam Unit’s freshwater intake was 45.1 kl per tonne of product, a reduction of 2.8% over last year’s 46.4 kl/tonne. It is worth mentioning that this surpasses the proposed benchmark standard of 63 kl/tonne by the National Productivity Council (NPC), for large-scale integrated pulp and paper mills.

Myth WATER USAGE IS MORE IN THE PAPER INDUSTRY

Fact WATER USAGE IS COMPARATIvElY lESS IN THE PAPER INDUSTRY.

Specific Fresh Water Intake in Bhadrachalam Unit (kl/tonne)

In today’s digital age, even with the vast range of media to choose from, ‘paper’ stands out with its unique array of aesthetic and tactile features.

“A school without books/paper is unimaginable”.

“Over 90% of media buyers agree the general public lacks understanding of the environmental impact of paper”. - NAPM survey of media buyers

Educating the consumers will lead to a more responsible use of paper as a medium for communication and packaging.

There have been many claims in the media that paper is bad but many of these claims are misinformed and misleading. Paper is not the enemy and it doesn’t have to cost the environment.

ITC’s Paperboards and Specialty Papers Division continues to set the benchmark in enviromental friendly and replenishble ways of converting fibre to finished products - while constantly measuring and improving our green scorecard.

ITC is Water Positive for the past 12 years.

Definition: Carbon Footprint is a measure of the impact that human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of CO

2 and all the greenhouse gases released into

the atmosphere that have arisen through the manufacture and distribution of a product or service.

Enlarging Itc’s carbon Footprint

ITC has consolidated its carbon positive status over the years by adopting a strategy of reducing specific energy consumption, increasing its renewable energy portfolio and large scale carbon sequestration through additional forestry activities on degraded wastelands.

ITC’s Social and Farm Forestry Initiatives have added close to 21,000 hectares of plantations during 2013-14. Total plantations as on March 31, 2014 stand at over 1,63,000 hectares. The Social and Farm Forestry Initiatives have helped sequester 45,29,311 tonnes of CO

2 in this year, thus

consolidating ITC’s status as a ‘Carbon Positive Company’ for the 9th year in a row.

Myth PAPER HAS A HIGH CARBON FOOTPRINT

Fact PUlPWOOD PlANTATIONS ABSORB CARBON DIOXIDE FROM THE ATMOSPHERE & HElP IN SEQUESTERING CO2 AND GREENHOUSE GASES.

ITC is Carbon Positive for 9 years in a row.

ITC PSPD has a focused approach to energy conservation through rigorous third party audits and implementation of recommendations, resulting in substantial improvement in specific energy performance.

What is Biomass Energy?

Biomass energy is produced by the pulp and paper industry by burning wood and waste materials from the pulping process to provide energy for the manufacturing process. Often excess heat and power is produced which is sold to the grid or used by the local community. Using wood for paper first and energy last creates four times more value.

ITC PSPD’s biomass energy comes from the bark, lops and tops collected at the harvest site of the plantations. Chipper dust from wood is also used as a source of biomass energy. Black liquor waste from

pulping process also contributes to the biomass energy of ITC PSPD. Locally sourced chip/sawdust and de-oiled bran is used as boiler fuel in Unit Kovai.

What is the difference between Biomass and Fossil Fuels?

The vital difference is one of time scale. Biomass takes carbon out of the atmosphere while it is growing and returns it as it is burned. Managed on a sustainable basis, biomass is a completely replenishable crop. This maintains a closed carbon cycle and preserves valuable fossil fuels

“Itc’s Paperboards and Specialty Papers Business has been rated as the most energy efficient in the Indian Paper and Paperboard Business sector”, according to the Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi (Challenge of the New Balance, CSE, 2010)

Myth THE PAPER I USE CONSUMES A lOT OF ENERGY

Fact PAPER MAkING IS AN ENERGY INTENSIvE INDUSTRY. BUT, AT THE SAME TIME, PAPER INDUSTRY IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST USERS OF RENEWABlE AND lOW CARBON ENERGY.

There are various certifications, endorsed by the paper industry, which ensure that the paper we use comes from a sustainable source.

Wood is a major source of fibre for the paper and paperboards industry. Availability of wood remains a critical challenge and is a serious sustainability concern, especially in a country with limited natural resources and acute income inequities.

Most of the fibre used in Bhadrachalam (72%) is from wood obtained from ITC’s Social and Farm Forestry initiatives, while the balance 28% wood was sourced from known and legal domestic and imported supplies. Internal R&D has produced high yielding, site specific, disease resistant eucalyptus and subabul clones.

The plantations on degradable wastelands contribute in-situ moisture conservation, ground water recharge and significant reduction in losses due to wind and water erosion. leaf litter from multi-species plantations and promotion of leguminous intercrops also help in enriching the depleted soils.

ITC PSPD, which has received the prestigious FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) Chain of Custody Certification, can supply certified paper/paperboards from all its four units. FSC is an independent, non-governmental, not-for-profit organisation to promote responsible management of the world’s forests and is recognised as the gold standard for ethical and legal sourcing around the world.

The FSC certification symbolises ITC PSPD’s continued commitment to sustainable business practices and to building a secure future for its stakeholders and society at large.

Myth PAPER IS BAD FOR THE ENvIRONMENT

Fact PAPER INDUSTRY IS A PIONEER IN SOURCING WOOD FROM SUSTAINABlE FORESTS AND PlANTATIONS.

In the paper making process, wood fiber can be recycled an estimated 4 to 7 times, after which the fiber breaks down and becomes waste. In other words, recovered paper is not an infinite source of raw material. To make the global fiber cycle work, a continual input of 35 to 65% of fresh wood fiber is needed depending on the grade of paper manufactured. If wood fiber was not used, then degradation through recycling would result in the world running out of paper within a period of 6 to 18 months depending on the paper grade.

In India, only about 20% waste paper is being currently recovered annually. low recovery is on account of alternate use of paper in wrapping, packing, etc. lack of source segregation results in waste paper getting contaminated and becoming unusable.

In order to inculcate the habit and benefits of recycling in consumers, ITC-PSPD has started the Wealth Out of Waste (WOW) programme.

Wealth Out of Waste (WOW)

ITC’s WOW - Wealth Out of Waste - programme has been creating awareness among the public on the benefits of waste recycling. And WOW has contributed to the protection of the environment as well as improving civic amenities, public health and hygiene.

Our Wealth Out of Waste programme is supported by 3 million citizens including 500,000 school children and over 1,500 commercial organisations. WOW has been awarded the prestigious Papyrus Award by the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) and received appreciation from the Government and NGOs.

the collection of recyclable waste paper during 2013-14 by WOW was 26000 Mt.

Myth RECYClED FIBER IS BETTER THAN vIRGIN, NEW FIBER FOR THE ENvIRONMENT.

Fact RECYClED FIBERS START DEGRADING AFTER 4-7 TIMES OF USE. YOU WOUlD AlWAYS NEED NEW OR vIRGIN FIBRES FOR GOOD QUAlITY PAPER AND PAPERBOARDS.

Itc is solid waste recycling positive for 7 years in a row.

The paper industry is a relatively small user of wood. Of the wood extracted from the world’s forests, 55% is used for energy production, 25% is used by sawmills and only around 11% is used directly by the paper industry.

Deforestation in India generally occurs due to various reasons, most common being the conversion of forest land to agricultural land.

Food security is a huge concern in a heavily populated country like India. In order to ensure food and wood security, ITC PSPD has developed an Agro-Forestry model, where agricultural crops are grown along with the pulp species like Eucalyptus, Subabul etc. This model encourages plantations through small farmers in their private wastelands generating significant livelihood and natural capital.

ITC’s afforestation programme has greened over 1,63,000 hectares which has led to large scale carbon sequestration besides creating over 70 million person days of employment.

ITC PSPD has been awarded the FSC FM certification.

Under this programme, ITC limited, till date, has facilitated the certification of 22,804 hectares of plantations owned by more than 24,000 small and marginal farmers under the FSc Forest Management certification. Most

of these plantations come under our social forestry scheme where we have helped farmers to grow eucalyptus in degraded lands. This certification helps these farmers to get better economic value as well as improves the sustainable practices on their farmlands.

The FSC logo on products enables consumers to buy confidently, knowing that they are buying products from legal, sustainable and well-managed sources.

Myth PAPER MAkING DESTROYS FORESTS.

Fact PAPER RElIES ON SUSTAINABlE GROWTH OF PlANTATIONS.

crEatIng arOUnD 6 MIllIOn SUStaInaBlE lIvElIhOODS

Itc’s e-choupal - world’s largest rural digital infrastructure

Empowering more than 4 million farmers

Itc’s Primary Education Initiative

Educating over 3,00,000 children

Itc’s afforestation Programme

Greening over 1,63,000 hectares

Itc’s Women’s Empowerment Initiative

Creating over 40,000 sustainable livelihoods for women

Itc’s Watershed Development Programme

Irrigating nearly 1,49,000 hectares of dryland

Itc’s livestock Development Initiative

Providing animal husbandary services for nearly 10,00,000 milch animals

106, Sardar Patel Road, Secunderabad 500 003. INDIA. visit us at: www.itcpspd.com / www.itcgreenpapers.com / www.itcportal.com

‘Forestry, Paper and Packaging are amongst the most sustainable industries in existence.’

With this booklet, we are trying to demonstrate that paper is renewable, recyclable and is produced in an environmentally friendly way. At ITC PSPD, we sequester more carbon than we emit, recycle more waste than we generate and create more rainwater harvesting capacity than the quantity of water that we use in our operations.

For more information on environmentally responsible papers and paperboards, please write to us at marketing.itcpspd@itc.in

Sources:ITC Ltd., Sustainability Report 2014www.twosides.info, www.risiinfo.com, www.envfor.nic.in