Description

Paper is one of the most important products ever invented by man. Widespread use of a written language would not have been possible without some cheap and practical material to write on. The invention of paper means that more people would be educated because more books would be printed and distributed. Industry would grow because all the plans, blueprints, records and formulae it uses would be written down and saved, together with the printing press, paper provided an extremely important way to communicate knowledge.

The primary source of raw material for production of paper is vegetable fibers, obtained mainly from plants. To ensure that the forest is not depleted of these woods, there is need to provide alternative source of raw materials, this therefore leads to the invention of the process of recycling.

Proper management of solid waste is critical to the health and well-being of urban residents. In Lagos metropolis, like most cities in the developing world, several tons of municipal solid waste is left uncollected on the streets each day, clogging drains, creating feeding ground for pests that spread disease and creating a myriad of related health and infrastructural problems.

A substantial part of the urban residents in the city and suburban informal settlements of Lagos metropolis also have little or no access to solid waste collection services. This is due to lack of proper land use planning which resulted in the creation of informal settlements with narrow streets that make it difficult for collection trucks to reach many areas.

The result is that a large portion of the population is left without access to solid waste management making them particularly vulnerable.

Presently, the rate of waste generation in Lagos (with estimated population over 10 million in 2012) is 9, 000 tonnes/day (Lagos State Waste Management Authority, LAWMA) while in Kano State, the rate is 3, 849 tonnes/day (Bayero University Kano Consultancy Unit).

Generally, the average rate of generation is estimated as 0.5kg/capital/day. Some of the waste generated includes paper, glass and plastic and with the use of technology, these products can be transformed into useful products again.

Recycling, which is the extraction and recovery of valuable materials from scrap or other discarded materials, is employed to supplement the production of paper.

Basically, the materials are reused, or remanufactured into new products.  Some products, such as glass, can be recycled or reused over and over again.  This morning’s newspaper can be recycled into another morning’s news.  Many new products are being made from recovered materials.

This report is to examine the financial viability or otherwise of establishing an egg crate production plant in Lagos using waste paper as the raw material.An egg tray is a carton designed for carrying and transporting whole eggs. They are very light in weight and easy to handle.

Paper Egg trays are produced from waste paper recycling to make a uniform pulp suspension and subsequently pressing the pulp in between two molds and additional water drainage by vacuum.

The proposed plant comprises of four parts production line the pulping system, molding system, drying systems, packaging systems.