Improving environment: local plant recycles wastepaper to produce egg trays

The environmental benefits of paper recycling are numerous. Among them are reducing greenhouse gas emissions, saving landfill space and reducing energy and water consumption, to name a few. 

The Ecopack plant is one of the examples of how small business could contribute to a broader effort of the nation in environmental protection and promoting environmental culture. 

The plant is located some 36 kilometres from Kazakh capital city Nur-Sultan in the Akmol village. 

“We have been working since 2016 and producing egg trays. Our raw materials are predominantly wastepaper, corrugated fibreboard. Why it? In general, similar enterprises use waste paper, newspaper, but we do not add chemicals. corrugated fibreboard is glued with starch glue, which is water-soluble,” said Igor Osennikov, head of the Ekopack plant. 

The plant produces two million trays per month and nearly 24 million per year. Main consumers are bird farms in Akmola, Karaganda, and Kostanai regions and Shymkent in southern Kazakhstan. 

The main cost components are gas and raw materials. 

“One of our advantages is that we use circulating water. We have two filters. Wastepaper is chopped up and broken down in water, then strained through screens. Pulp is formed and water is used again,” he said, noting humidity is reduced from 70 percent to 3 to 4 percent after heating. 

The plant is subsided by Kazakhstan’s EcoQolday project implemented by Operator ROP. The project is designed to support waste collection, transportation and recycling companies and attract new ones to the industry through subsidies and reduced administrative barriers. 

Under the new mechanism, the tender procedures on the collection, processing and transportation of packaging waste for 2021 and 2022 are excluded, while all procedures are carried out through the EcoQolday program. 

From this year in the part of packaging waste, compensation payments from the WRS Operator are increased, almost full coverage of transport expenses for collectors is provided, the list of presented documents is shortened and the procedure of concluding an agreement is simplified.