Paper materials used across all departments at the Lady Doak College, whether written or printed, are dumped in large bins placed strategically at every building inside the campus.
The college is one among the few in the city to have a mini waste paper recycling unit on its campus, which is maintained by the Botany Department. “As a part of our initiatives to be environmentally conscious, we recycle all the used paper on campus,” said R. Gunaseeli, Coordinator of the Environmental Studies Centre at the college.
Inaugurated in 2009, the unit has been erected in a room and is made up of separate machines that include a small machine for pulping, machines for screw pressing, drying and smoothening the paper.
“We add either jute fibres from old sacks or sugarcane waste to the paper pulp when we make new sheets to give it consistency and thickness. While most recycling units use chemicals to remove the ink or print from used paper, we use microbial enzymes developed in-house to keep the process as natural as possible,” said Vinodh Kumar, a research scholar who is managing the unit.
“Women self-help groups (SHGs) under the ‘Magalir Thittam’ were also trained in recycling paper during a 40-day programme organised here,” Mr. Vinodh added.
The unit produces nearly 15 sheets of recycled paper for every one kilo of used paper which is fed into the unit. “The college uses the recycled paper to print invitations and programme brochures for events held on campus,” a faculty member said.
Students of the Botany Department have a service learning course on ‘Waste Paper Management’ and they work at the unit for a semester.
“Most of us didn’t know that we could do so much with waste paper. We have also made files and paper bags which are sold at our events and college bazaars,” said S. Priya, a student of the college.
