THE CONVERSION OF WASTE PAPER INTO BATHROOM TISSUE

Background of Study

Sustainability is considered to be one of the key priorities for supply chains as it helps companies in improving their financial performance and at the same time attract customers who value sustainability. Furthermore, companies implementing waste prevention programs draw the benefits of savings in material and supply cost, improving employee morale and complying with local or state solid waste regulations. An industry that has been adapting to the increased awareness of sustainability is the tissue paper industry. The adoption includes for instance the introduction of products with 100 % recycled fibre, reduction of water used in the production process and the use of environmental labels.

This case study aims to further look into the sustainability work of a tissue paper manufacturer. In specific, the aim is to obtain a deeper understanding for the material efficiency of the production process and also identify and reduce the material waste in order to improve the efficiency.

After conducting quantitative data collection, it was identified that the most significant material waste is found in the preparation stage of the incoming and consumed mother reels, the log rejecter stage and lastly the log saw stage. The three stages amount to about 85 % of the total material waste. The root cause analysis identified inconsistent work by operators to increase the waste at the preparation stage and the log rejecter stage. Furthermore, technical constraints at the material supplier causes loose ends of the mother reels, which results in more waste at the preparation stage. Other causes that indirectly affect the log rejecter stage include the packaging machine’s technical constraints as well as poor pallets provided by the Logistics department. Lastly, technical constrains in the log saw cause waste for itself and indirectly for the log rejecter stage.

In order to tackle the root causes standardized work should be employed alongside with an increased collaboration amongst the different stake holders of tissue paper manufacturer.

Problem Statement

Although it is generally agreed that wastes management services are essential services that must be provided in every society, nonetheless very little is known on what exactly constitute a waste. Knowing that the concept of waste is highly subjective as one man’s wastes is a resource to another. Hence, it is important to have a clear guide as to what could be classed as waste. The present research therefore examines the concept of wastes and wastes management with a view to determining what waste is, how they are classified and managed.

It has been established that there is the need to convert waste paper into useful form that can serve several purposes especially for domestic usage. As a result, this work tries to illustrate and investigate the means of converting or recycling waste paper into bathroom tissue.

Aim of the Study

The main Aim of this research work focuses on the conversion of waste paper into bathroom tissue.

Objectives of Study

The specific objectives of this research work include: To identify the various activities that are present in the tissue production process and specifically detect and measure the material waste that occurs.