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.

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.

Post-consumer paper, or waste paper, is an important renewable raw material source for the paper industry and can contribute considerably towards reduction in its imports.

Its recycling is also important from the environmental perspective, as systematic collection and recycling of waste paper can significantly reduce the generation of solid wastes.

It has been estimated that recycling one tonne of waste paper results in a saving of 70% raw material, 60% coal, 43% energy and 70 % water, as compared to making virgin paper from wood.

Finally, the recycling process also offers an opportunity for generation of additional income and employment.

According to some estimates, one tonne of recycled paper saves approximately 17 trees, 2.5 barrels of oil, 4100 Kilowatt hours of electricity, 4 cubic meters of landfill and 31,780 litres of water.

In Nigeria, pulp and paper production capacities are low due to dependence on foreign inputs. Two of the three primary pulp and paper mills established in the 1960’s to 1970’s performed optimally till the 1980’s. In 1985 and 1986, capacity utilization in Nigeria paper mill reached 62.3% and 66.17% respectively. Also by 1988, the importation of newsprint had stopped.

However, in 1996, the mills stopped production leading to complete dependence on importation of paper and paper products. This resulted in the expenditure of an estimated amount of 500 billion naira annually on importation of paper products. To ensure optimal pulp and paper capacities, government need to deliberately promote investment in small scale pulp and paper mills, agro residues pulping and recycling of waste paper.

This report is to examine the financial viability or otherwise of establishing a jumbo roll production plant in Nigeria using waste paper as the raw material.

The proposed plant would comprise of the complete tissue making production line consisting of three main parts; stock preparation production line: which is used to convert sorted wasted paper into liquid refined pulp; tissue making machine; which is used to convert liquid refined pulp into jumbo tissue rolls and auxiliary parts: which are necessary parts for the complete production line. The plant would operate at 85% of the installed capacity working three (3) shifts of 8 hours each in 300 day per annum.