Waste measures

Waste generating from paper mills is mostly sludge and the rest include waste wood, paper waste, and waste plastics. The increased use of recovered paper as raw material has led to an increased generation of organic sludge. Most of the waste is incinerated and the recovered heat is often used to supplement the energy requirements of the mill. The residual cinder is used effectively in the form of raw material for cement.

The Japanese paper industry once set the numerical target of reducing the final disposal volume of industrial waste to 130,000 tons by FY2020, and has achieved the target ahead of schedule by reducing the volume to 77,000 tons in FY 2019. As a new goal for FY2021 or later, the industry also set the numerical target of reducing the volume to 60,000 tons by FY 2025, and continues to work on waste reduction.