The gift wrapping papers are used by our family, friends, people around for hundreds of reasons to decorate and bring an element of appeal in our gifts. In country like India where there is nearly one or more festival celebrated everyday somewhere, besides major festivals lile Christams, Diwali, Id and not to forget endless birthday parties, anniversaries, thanks giving , long marriage celebration etc..Wrapping sheets, shiny bows, strings have a very big role to play in our system.
In ancient India, gifts were placed in big baskets or containers or trays and covered with beautiful fabrics and passed on to friends, families etc. . The main aim of covering the gift was to keep it a secret for the person receiving same. However in modern times our country has aped western world and have started wrapping gifts in laminated decorated wrapping sheets. It just doesn’t end there.
The much of wrapping paper that we choose is dyed, laminated and often contains non- paper additives such as gold , silver color glitters which cannot be recycled. This means that this wrapping paper is either thrown in bin or, worse, albeit with good intentions ,put with recycling paper waste, which means the whole lot of recyclable waste gets contaminated and finally has to go to landfills.
I tried finding a data on wrapping sheet waste for India, but realized that nobody has bothered much and have thought little about this problem seriously. Nowhere in Indian social media, blogs or any other place in internet, anybody has given much thought or shown worry about this fact. People in general speak of eco friendly birthdays, products but not many are bothered about the amount of wrapping sheets that are being rolled out for these events.
The same shiny gift wraps and brights bows that make our Christmas, Birthday presents so enticing are exactly that gives our recycling centres a big headache. In metero cities like mumbai, delhi, bangalore where we have recently started to learn segreggating our wastes in different bags and where part of waste is started getting recycled, we still continue to increase size of our landfills daily with our reckless usage of wrapping papers.
Facts about Wrapping Sheets
1. Metallic glittery wrapping sheets are not recyclable, non biodegradable
2. Dyed, laminated wrapping sheets cannot be recyclable, partial biodegradable
3. Heavy colored wrapping sheets obstruct recycling process
4. Most of the wrapping paper is very light, makes it worthless for recycling and hence goes to landfills.
5. If the wrapping sheets is plastered in tape, useless for recycling, goes to landfills
6. The plastic wrapping sheets are a hazard just like plastic bags.
7. Costs lots of money which normally doesnt even invite more than 30 seconds of attention from the receiver.
8. If it were laminated, it would be encased in a film of plastic on both sides that would very obviously render it useless for recycling and thus a landfill burden
According to the Hendricks County, Ind., Waste Management District USA, "In general, wrapping paper is not recyclable. Often the ink used to produce wrapping paper isn't simply on the paper's surface. Many times the paper is 'beater dyed' which means the color is actually in the pulp of the paper. The de-inking process used to recycle most other types of paper is not effective at removing ink from paper that has been beater dyed. Many types of wrapping paper are very thin and contain few good quality fibers for recycling. Additionally, wrapping paper is often laminated and/or contains glitter, tape or other additives that cannot be recycled."
In ancient India, gifts were placed in big baskets or containers or trays and covered with beautiful fabrics and passed on to friends, families etc. . The main aim of covering the gift was to keep it a secret for the person receiving same. However in modern times our country has aped western world and have started wrapping gifts in laminated decorated wrapping sheets. It just doesn’t end there.
The much of wrapping paper that we choose is dyed, laminated and often contains non- paper additives such as gold , silver color glitters which cannot be recycled. This means that this wrapping paper is either thrown in bin or, worse, albeit with good intentions ,put with recycling paper waste, which means the whole lot of recyclable waste gets contaminated and finally has to go to landfills.
I tried finding a data on wrapping sheet waste for India, but realized that nobody has bothered much and have thought little about this problem seriously. Nowhere in Indian social media, blogs or any other place in internet, anybody has given much thought or shown worry about this fact. People in general speak of eco friendly birthdays, products but not many are bothered about the amount of wrapping sheets that are being rolled out for these events.
The same shiny gift wraps and brights bows that make our Christmas, Birthday presents so enticing are exactly that gives our recycling centres a big headache. In metero cities like mumbai, delhi, bangalore where we have recently started to learn segreggating our wastes in different bags and where part of waste is started getting recycled, we still continue to increase size of our landfills daily with our reckless usage of wrapping papers.
Facts about Wrapping Sheets
1. Metallic glittery wrapping sheets are not recyclable, non biodegradable
2. Dyed, laminated wrapping sheets cannot be recyclable, partial biodegradable
3. Heavy colored wrapping sheets obstruct recycling process
4. Most of the wrapping paper is very light, makes it worthless for recycling and hence goes to landfills.
5. If the wrapping sheets is plastered in tape, useless for recycling, goes to landfills
6. The plastic wrapping sheets are a hazard just like plastic bags.
7. Costs lots of money which normally doesnt even invite more than 30 seconds of attention from the receiver.
8. If it were laminated, it would be encased in a film of plastic on both sides that would very obviously render it useless for recycling and thus a landfill burden
According to the Hendricks County, Ind., Waste Management District USA, "In general, wrapping paper is not recyclable. Often the ink used to produce wrapping paper isn't simply on the paper's surface. Many times the paper is 'beater dyed' which means the color is actually in the pulp of the paper. The de-inking process used to recycle most other types of paper is not effective at removing ink from paper that has been beater dyed. Many types of wrapping paper are very thin and contain few good quality fibers for recycling. Additionally, wrapping paper is often laminated and/or contains glitter, tape or other additives that cannot be recycled."