Many recent pollution prevention efforts in the pulp and paper industry have focused on getting rid of the use of chlorine for bleaching, a process which helps to increase the brightness of the paper. Elemental chlorine (that is, pure chlorine) or chlorine dioxide is generally used for bleaching but, in the process, large amounts of chlorinated pollutants such as dioxins - a persistent organic pollutant with very high cancer-causing potential - are released into the water. Hence, there is an increasing trend worldwide to reduce the use of both elemental chlorine and chemical containing chlorine.
Two bleaching processes, which are increasingly being adopted by Western nations are elemental-chlorine-free (ECF) bleaching and total-chlorine-free (TCF) bleaching. In India, most of the paper and pulp companies are small or medium ones. Hence, there is little scope for investment in pollution-prevention technologies.
Courtesy: "Down to Earth" (sorry, other details not available).
Grateful thanks to Down to Earth.
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