Last May, in Binh Duong, the Vietnam International Paper and Packaging Exhibition - VPPE 2024 demonstrated and gathered many advanced solutions, machinery, equipment, the latest and optimal technology trends, specialized solutions in the paper and packaging sector to meet the needs of production and business in the direction of high efficiency, sustainability, "greening" to minimize consumption of raw materials, water, electricity, steam, chemicals, supplies, minimize emissions; utilize and treat paper mill waste in a circular economy... Within the framework of VPPE 2024, the Paper Industry Technical Seminar in the series of events Viet Nam Paper Day 2024 was held to introduce superior technologies and methods in this production sector and at the same time discuss finding a green direction for the Paper Industry to develop in a sustainable direction.
Mr. Hoang Trung Son: First of all, we need to agree that the Paper industry is a natural fit for a circular economy due to the following factors: (1) wood chips, the main raw material in paper production, are exploited from specialized production forests and are a renewable source of raw materials; (2) the paper industry is the industry with the highest collection and recycling rate, the average global collection rate is about 60%, typically in Japan it is more than 82%, packaging paper factories in Vietnam currently use recycled materials (recovered paper) up to 98%; (3) paper products are easily biodegradable in the natural environment; (4) waste generated during the paper production process is all treated to meet emission standards with investment in professional and synchronous treatment systems.
Mr. Hoang Trung Son: First of all, we need to agree that the Paper industry is a natural fit for a circular economy due to the following factors: (1) wood chips, the main raw material in paper production, are exploited from specialized production forests and are a renewable source of raw materials; (2) the paper industry is the industry with the highest collection and recycling rate, the average global collection rate is about 60%, typically in Japan it is more than 82%, packaging paper factories in Vietnam currently use recycled materials (recovered paper) up to 98%; (3) paper products are easily biodegradable in the natural environment; (4) waste generated during the paper production process is all treated to meet emission standards with investment in professional and synchronous treatment systems.
The main goals in green and sustainable development that the global and Vietnamese Paper Industry need to achieve are:
Saving resources in production and consumption, with research and development and encouraging the use of paper products with thinner/lighter weights, lower whiteness or unbleached, as well as using uniform raw materials, convenient for recycling;
Reducing energy consumption (electricity, heat, steam, ...), additives, chemicals and clean water in the paper production process by technical solutions, technology and automation;
Strengthening the collection and recycling rate of used paper, striving to reach above the global average of over 60%. (According to statistics, reusing 1 ton of recovered paper raw materials helps save 4.4 tons of wood (26 trees), 39% of energy and will reduce 58% of greenhouse gases, 35% of wastewater discharged into the environment ...);
Effectively and safely treat and ensure emission standards for waste generated during the production process such as: applying advanced anaerobic wastewater treatment technology; co-processing solid waste with fluidized bed boilers (can treat most of the common solid waste generated at the production facility, utilizing heat to return to the production process, reducing transportation and treatment costs, reducing CO2 emissions, while ensuring emission standards according to the law) ...
Responding to the greening trend of the Industry, the Paper Industry Technical Workshop introduced and discussed a number of technological solutions such as: effective dewatering solutions for the pressing unit; solutions to utilize and treat paper mill waste in the circular economy; solutions for high-efficiency pulping with high-concentration mills, innovative bleaching technology such as chlorine-free technology (ECF), closed-loop chemical recovery systems that produce high-quality and environmentally friendly pulp, permanent magnet energy-saving motors, reduced water consumption with high-quality mesh blanket systems and efficient use of chemicals to reduce energy and water consumption in paper production...
In the past ten years, the Vietnamese Paper Industry has made remarkable progress in both investment to increase capacity, increase output, and improve quality, reduce fuel consumption and emissions; meeting the demand for all kinds of paper, especially packaging paper for making boxes for domestic consumer goods, as well as for export.
However, the Vietnamese Paper industry currently has many small and micro enterprises that do not have enough conditions to fully invest in waste treatment systems, as well as in research, technical and technological innovation, so there are still many phenomena of non-compliance with regulations on waste management, environmental protection, high consumption of resources (raw materials, energy, clean water, etc.) and low quality products brought to the market. This has significantly affected the reputation and image of the Paper industry, especially reputable brands that fully comply with legal regulations in production and business activities, especially in terms of the environment.
Mr. Hoang Trung Son: I completely agree that investing in green production technology is an inevitable trend today and contributes significantly to achieving the government's Zero Carbon goal by 2050. And despite initial favorable conditions, the Vietnamese Paper industry still needs a lot of effort to achieve the greening goal because there are still many bottlenecks that need to be removed.
Specifically, first, the awareness of green transformation and circular economy, of the 2020 Enterprise Law and the 2020 Environmental Protection Law of some enterprises and even some organizations is still limited and incomplete to take more drastic and urgent actions;
Next, in terms of policy mechanisms, there are still many limitations that significantly affect the production and business activities of enterprises;
Third, the current imbalance in investment in the paper industry: too much investment in packaging paper (accounting for more than 80% of production capacity) while having to import many other types of paper, especially high-quality paper and special paper; we are the world's largest exporter of wood chips (main raw material for pulp production), but there is no project to produce commercial pulp, and every year we have to import hundreds of tons of pulp.
Fourth, investing in green technology always requires a lot of capital and high-quality human resources for investment in technology, machinery and equipment, but the financial resources and human resources of most Vietnamese enterprises are not strong enough, it is difficult to access capital from banks, as well as difficult to recruit high-quality human resources, which is also a significant bottleneck.
Fifth, the world economy is currently in recession, inflation is high, and the geopolitical situation is very complicated, causing many difficulties for businesses: the price of raw materials is high, while orders are decreasing, so the price of output products cannot increase accordingly, and at some points, they have to reduce prices to get orders to maintain operations. Therefore, many businesses are having to produce moderately, waiting for the market situation and not daring to invest in development.
Mr. Hoang Trung Son: We all see that, although it is not one of the key industries, holding a key position in the economy, the main products of the paper industry such as packaging paper, printing paper, writing paper, tissue paper, etc. are essential products in social life; the paper industry is also an auxiliary industry, accompanying many other manufacturing and economic sectors, especially for industries with high export proportions, which need to use packaging paper for packaging such as: textiles, footwear, wood products, agricultural and aquatic products, components, electronic equipment, etc., along with the trend of replacing disposable plastic products. Therefore, helping paper industry enterprises to promote investment in a green and sustainable direction is very important and urgent.
Recently, a group of experts from the Institute of Environmental, Marine and Island Sciences (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment); Vietnam Pulp and Paper Association, Hoa Binh University have researched and proposed 29 Best Available Techniques (BAT) summarized for the paper and pulp production industry, proposed to be divided into groups related to Environmental Management; Saving energy, water and raw materials; Reducing emissions; By product...
Source: Industry and Trade Magazine
