The State should create favourablepolicies to encourage the collection of used paper in an aim to build alocal recycling industry, paper industry officials have said.

Ata seminar held on Dec. 3, Vu Ngoc Bao, general secretary of the VietnamPulp and Paper Association, said the State should draw up newregulations to develop a paper-recycling industry in the country.

Paper use in Vietnam each year reaches more than 1.8 million tonnes,but the country can only provide 1.13 million tonnes, with the restimported.

Of the total paper produced in the country, recycled paper and packagesrepresent 70 percent . Most of the used paper, which is made ofimported and locally made paper, is collected by junk dealers andsanitary workers.

He added if more used paper was collected the country could reduce its volume of imported paper.

Bao said media and schools should include information and instructionon the environmental value of collecting and recycling paper.

Speaking at the seminar, Trivichak Yibyndham, managing director ofFiber Pattana Co Ltd in Thailand , said residents would be more willingto sort their rubbish if they were more aware of the benefits ofrecycling.

Tushar Shar, director of Daman Ganga Paper Mill in India , said thatpaper recycling could be an industry which brings profits forenterprises and companies.

At the conference, Shar demonstrated how paper packages could be used to produce soft tissue and roofing sheets.

He said a recycling industry would contribute to environmentalprotection, provide jobs and reduce the amount of rubbish and energyconsumption.

Tran Hanh Dung, environment director of Tetra Park , which manufacturesmilk and drink packaging, said recycling paper packages had helped cutCO2 emissions at paper manufacturing plants.

Paper could be recycled six times before it is buried or destroyed, she said.

She said her company would buy machines and invite interested companiesto visit paper-recycling mills in India and Thailand to learn about theindustry./.