Context: Recently, Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has secured Patent registration for its innovative Plastic-mixed Handmade Paper developed to reduce plastic menace from nature.
The production of waste-plastic mixed handmade paper is likely to serve the twin objectives

• Protecting the environment
• Creating sustainable employment

Key Points

• The patent certificate was issued to KVIC’s Kumarappa National Handmade Paper Institute (KNHPI), Jaipur.
• The idea of developing plastic-mixed handmade paper was invented in 2018 and the project was executed by the team of scientists at KNHPI.
• The plastic-mixed handmade paper was developed under Project REPLAN (REducing PLAstic from Nature).
• The technology developed by KVIC uses both high & low density waste polythene that not only adds extra strength to the paper but also reduces the cost by up to 34%.
• The product is recyclable and eco-friendly.

About Project REPLAN (REducing PLAstic from Nature)

• It is the first of its kind project in India, where plastic waste is de-structured, degraded, diluted and used with paper pulp while making handmade paper and thus reduces plastic waste from nature.
• It was launched in 2018 in line with Prime Minister’s ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan’ (Clean India Mission).
• It is a call for fighting the menace of single-use plastic.
• Its primary objective is to remove the existing waste plastic material from nature and use it in a semi-permanent manner.
• Under Project REPLAN, the waste plastic from nature is collected, de-structured and de-gradated and then mixed with paper pulp in a ratio of 80 is to 20.