http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/Greys+anatomy+Inside+Edmonton+plant+that+turns+recycled+paper/8397573/story.html
The office paper and used clothing and linen that Edmontonians toss into recycling bins is being turned into stationery by a new eco-friendly recycling plant. “What we are doing is trying to close the loop on recycling,” said Rajan Ahluwalia, CEO of Greys Paper Recycling Industries. “You give me your waste paper and we take cotton clippings and cuttings, or bedsheets and towels from hotels, and we shred them and pulp them and then mix those two in my own secret recipe where I mix those two pulps together and roll sheets of paper.” The cotton adds strength to the paper’s wood fibre, which is less durable and has a shorter lifespan. More than 100 local businesses, including most major hotels, provide waste paper and used cotton fabric to Greys. These companies and the City of Edmonton have also committed to purchasing the recycled products. The plant also uses old, non-reusable clothing and linens collected at 14 recycling depots and Eco Stations. Ahluwalia gave city officials and media a tour of the $20-million plant at the Edmonton Waste Management Centre in the city’s northeast on Thursday. Two months ago, it started one of its two production lines which produces as much as five tonnes of paper a day. The plant has started making envelopes and note pads. Other products will be rolled out later in the year. A second larger production line is expected to start up in mid-June, producing as much as 40 tonnes daily. The 100-per-cent post-consumer recycled paper, which feels rougher than conventional paper, is light grey in colour — giving the company its name. Greys employs 55 people and at full production will need a minimum of 100 workers. The technology which Ahluwalia brought to Edmonton with him from India uses no chemicals and a fraction of the water of traditional paper mills. “This is all done by mechanical processes,” he said. “There is no emissions and no pollution.” The plant is a partnership between Greys and the City of Edmonton, which contributed $5 million to build the two giant white domes housing the plant.
