COMPARATIVE COST ANALYSIS OF PAPER PRODUCTION: TRADITIONAL VS. RECYCLING

Abstract

Paper has been used for many years all over the world. It is one of the most consumed products in the world. The most important raw material source used for paper production is the cellulose obtained from trees. There are significant impacts of paper industry on the environment and economy during its traditional production process. Instead of using virgin raw materials, in many countries wastepaper are collected and reused by recycling which saves resources like energy, time, and raw material. In this study the traditional paper production (system 1) which uses a virgin raw material is economically compared with recycling option (system 2). The two systems are compared based on their investment, material, maintenance and operating costs considering the time value of money. Annual worth (AW) method is used for economic comparison. AW values of all estimated disbursements during the life cycle of the systems are presented. It is concluded that recycling is economically more advantageous than the traditional paper production.