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ENVIRONMENT
NAREERAT WIRIYAPONG
An SCG Paper employee displays scrap paper that will be used in the creation of the new Idea Green environmentally friendly product. |
Office paper is now a little less harmful to the earth. SCG Paper's new environmentally friendly office paper introduced yesterday is made of 30% fibre obtained from waste and post-consumer materials and 70% farmed tree pulp. Hence, the innovation uses 30% fewer farmed trees than conventional paper.
Chaovalit Ekabut, the president of SCG Paper, also Thailand's largest integrated paper producer, said environmentally friendly office paper was in high demand locally and so far only imported brands were available.
The new office paper called ''Idea Green'' is aimed at capturing a 10-15% share of the six-billion-baht printing and writing paper market in the next 12 months. With local consumption of about one million tonnes at present, printing and writing paper accounts for 20% of the total paper market that is valued 30 billion baht a year, he said.
''We are now expanding our distribution channel. Idea was launched to create a premium paper that betters the environment,'' said Mr Chaovalit. ''The product helps create new paper consumption behaviour and encourages consumers to shape an environmentally conscious and sustainable society.''
Idea Green is the first paper product in Thailand to be certified with the Thai Green Label by the Thailand Environmental Institute, he added.
Montri Mahaplerkpong, the marketing director of SCG Paper, said paper demand in Thailand still had room to grow, citing the current low consumption per capita of 56 kilogramme per head per year. Per capita consumption of paper in Singapore and Japan is higher at 145 and 250 kg, respectively, with the US exceeding 310 kg a year, he added.
The printing and writing segment has grown by an average of 13% per year in the past five years. The market, however, is expected to post slower growth of about 10% this year in line with the general economic slowdown.
Puttaporn Saengratanadej, business manager for home and office solutions of SCG Paper, said Idea Green served the needs of government agencies that have an obligation to gradually increase the use of environmentally friendly products and services to 100% by 2011.
SCG Paper's recent survey also showed that demand for green paper is increasing among corporate clients, he added.
Mr Chaovalit said the new office paper would mainly be produced at Phoenix Pulp and Paper (PPPC), which is majority-owned by SCG Paper, in Khon Kaen. The facility is doubling its production capacity to 400,000 tonnes per year.
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