The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on June 25, 2024, issued the Charter for Water Recycling & Pollution Prevention in Pulp & Paper Industries (In Main Stem States of River Ganga & Yamuna)
The following has been stated: -
•The Pulp & Paper industries are categorized based on the scale of production and it was made mandatory to comply with the notified standards for quality of treated effluent.
•With the declaration of river Ganga as a National River and the constitution of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) to ensure effective abatement of pollution and conservation of the river Ganga, the issue of minimizing the environmental impact of pulp and paper mills on the water quality of river Ganga and its tributaries became a priority agenda before regulatory bodies.
•The formulation of the “Charter for Water Recycling & Pollution Prevention in Pulp and Paper Industries located in river Ganga basin” by CPCB in consultation with leading technical institutes like IIT Roorkee, IIT Kanpur, IIT Delhi & CPPRI, SPCBs, representatives from industry & industry associations, and other stakeholders was with an objective to reduce the specific freshwater consumption & effluent discharge, improvement in quality of treated effluent to ensure improvement in water quality of the recipient water bodies/ streams/tributaries and river Ganga.
•The basic premise of the Charter was majorly based on:
a.Participatory approach.
b.Process technology augmentation, standardization, and adoption of cleaner production options for waste minimization.
c.Retrofitting in existing infrastructure and upgradation/augmentation of ETPs to promote recycling and reuse of various effluent streams without and with treatment (partial or full treatment) for different end-point uses i.e. cascade management of water utilization and wastewater management.
d.Effective and continuous self and third-party monitoring program.
The detailed charter is given in the document below.
