Integrating Biotechnology and Circular Economy Principles for Sustainable Rural Handmade Paper Enterprises
Integrating Biotechnology and Circular Economy Principles for Sustainable Rural Handmade Paper Enterprises is an open-access, peer-reviewed research paper by Dr. Sunita Chauhan, Mr. P. K Chauhan and Dr. Rahul Mishra, published in Volume 15, Issue 10 of the International Journal of Advanced Research in Science and Technology (IJARST), a UGC-approved journal (Print ISSN 2319-1783, Online ISSN 2320-1126).
Author
Dr. Sunita Chauhan, Mr. P. K Chauhan and Dr. Rahul Mishra
Abstract
In the present scenario of rising pollution concerns and increasing episodes of environmental hazards or natural calamities, the relevance of biotechnology (BT) and circular economy (CE) has grown tremendously. There is a need for CE and sustainable production systems and how rural handmade paper (HMP) enterprises can be further improved for bringing sustainability. It highlights the potential of the HMP sector as a waste-to-wealth and resource-efficient production system that utilizes recycled fibres, agricultural residues and non-wood lignocellulosic biomass for papermaking. Whereas, CE can further enhance its sustainability. Although processing lignocellulosic biomass is challenging, biotechnology is a potential aid for overcoming these challenges through various applications. These applications highlight the actual potential of HMP enterprises which can serve as strong examples of grassroots rural employment with immense potential for incorporating CE principles along with BT.
Gislev, M., Grohol, M., Mathieux, F., Ardente, F., Bobba, S., Nuss, P., Blengini, G., Alves Dias, P., Blagoeva, D., Matos, C., Wittmer, D., Pavel, C., Hamor, T., Saveyn, H., Gawlik, B., Huygens, D., Garbarino, E., Tzimas, E., & Buraoui, F. (2018). Report on critical raw materials and the circular economy. European Commission. https://doi.org/10.2873/167813
Chettri, K. (2019). Handmade paper industry: A sustainable alternative to plastics. Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research, 6(6), 17–20. http://doi.one/10.1729/Journal.22353
Teygeler, R (1998) Handmade paper from India. Kagaj: yesterday, today and tomorrow in: IPH Congress Book, 1998(12). International Association of Paperhistorians, Marburg, 2002: pp.185-194.
Neumann, S. (2023). Mechanising handmade paper: Traditional and modern paper production in 19th-century Europe. In Paper stories: Paper and book history in early modern Europe (pp. 91–110). De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111162768-005
Müller, E. (2023). Describing and representing watermarks: From paper catalogues to online databases. In Paper stories: Paper and book history in early modern Europe (pp. 111–142). De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111162768-00
Chauhan,S., Hadoliya,R. and Mishra,R. (2025) “Crafting Sustainability: Handmade Paper as a promising option” InPaper International, vol.27, issue 3: 52-61. (Apr-June’25 issue).
Bhodiwal, S., Chauhan, S., Agarwal, R., et al. (2022). A novel approach: Handmade papermaking. MOJ Ecology & Environmental Sciences, 7(1), 11–16https://doi.org/10.15406/mojres.2022.07.00241
Chauhan, S., and P. Bhatnagar. "Biobleaching: Prospects and potentials for the handmade paper industry."Inpaper International 12.1 (2009): 4-8.
Chauhan, S., Prasad, S. B. L., Meena, S. B. L., & Bhatnagar, P. (2022). Exploring the Less Travelled Path of Ecofriendly Handmade Paper Production. In Innovations in Environmental Biotechnology. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4445-0_17
Bhodiwal, S; Agarwal, R & Chauhan S. (2024). A Weed Species Lantana camara L.: An Alternative Raw Material in Handmade Paper Making. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10049652#90
Chauhan, S., Sharma, S., Dixit, R., & Sharma, A. K. (2015). Isolation and purification of white rot fungal cultures for mycoremediation of effluents from handmade paper industry.
Chauhan, S., Choudhury, B., Singh, S. N., & Ghosh, P. (2006). Application of xylanase enzyme of Bacillus coagulans as a prebleaching agent on non-woody pulps. Process Biochemistry, 41(1), 226–231. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procbio.2005.06.003
Chauhan, S., Krishna Mohan, M., & Bhatnagar, P. (2015). Biobleaching of the paper mulberry pulp using white rot fungi. International Journal of Advanced Biotechnology Research, 16, 320-326.
Chauhan, S., Khan, M. E., Sharma, A. K., Jain, R. K., & Hussain, G. (2009). Cost-effective production of handmade paper through recycling of shredded currency waste of Reserve Bank of India-An enzymatic route. IPPTA Journal, 21(3), 111–117.
“Eco-Entrepreneurship through Handmade Papermaking: A Waste-to-Wealth Model for a Green Economy and Inclusive Development” byChauhan, S.; Chaturvedi, P. and Mishra, R. (2026) published in: The Global Awakening: Research and Insights on Women and Youth Led Transformation” eds. A. Chauhan, N.Panchal and A.C. Joshi, Taran Publications, Delh : 18-27, ISBN-978-93-471-5810-0
Alam, M., Rikta, S. Y., Bahauddin, K., Hasnine, T., & Kamal, A. K. I. (2018). Production of eco-friendly handmade paper from wastepaper and other local biomass material. Academic Journal of Environmental Sciences, 6(7), 147–155. https://doi.org/10.15413/ajes.2018.0128
Tripathi, J. G. (2017). Study scope and challenges of paper industries in India in 21st century. International Journal of Business Administration Research Review, 1(18), 167–176.
Sun, M., Wang, Y., Shi, L., & Klemeš, J. J. (2018). Uncovering energy use, carbon emissions and environmental burdens of pulp and paper industry: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 92, 823-833. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2018.04.036
Jain, R. K., Sharma A.K, Chauhan S (2009). Applications of biotechnology in pulp and papermaking and opportunities for the handmade paper industry. In Handmade Paper: From Rags to Riches.
Yang, X., Li, L., Zhao, W., Wang, M., Yang, W., Tian, Y., Zheng, R., Deng, S., Mu, Y., & Zhu, X. (2023). Characteristics and functional application of cellulose fibers extracted from cow dung wastes. Materials, 16(2), 648. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16020648
Teygeler, R. (1998).Handmade paper from India: Kagaj: yesterday, today and tomorrow. IPH Congress Book, International Association of Paper Historians, pp. 185–194. https://doi.org/10.13140/2.1.1499.5522
Jain, P. & Gupta, C. (2021). A sustainable journey of handmade paper from past to present: A review. Problems of Sustainable Development, 16(2), 234–244. DOI: 10.35784/pe.2021.2.25. https://doi.org/10.35784/pe.2021.2.25
Thakker, A.M. & Sun, D. (2023). Handmade papers: Innovation, technology, and design. Journal of Natural Fibers, 20(1), 2187505. DOI: 10.1080/15440478.2023.2187505.https://doi.org/10.1080/15440478.2023.2187505
Shahzabeen, Arzoo & Ghosh, Annesha & Pandey, Bhanu & Shekhar, Sameer. (2023). Circular Economy and Sustainable Production and Consumption. 10.1007/978-3-031-40304-0_3. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-40304-0_3
Geissdoerfer, Martin & Savaget, Paulo & Bocken, Nancy & Hultink, Erik. (2017). The Circular Economy – A new sustainability paradigm?. Journal of Cleaner Production. 143. 757–768. 10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.12.048.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.12.048
Velenturf, Anne & Purnell, Phil. (2021). Principles for a Sustainable Circular Economy. Sustainable Production and Consumption. 27. 1437-1457. 10.1016/j.spc.2021.02.018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2021.02.018
Aswal, S., Chauhan, S. & Bhatnagar, P. (2020). Identifying efficient isolates of white rot fungi for lignin degradation of Calotropis procera fibre in handmade papermaking. Journal of Scientific Research, 64(2). https://doi.org/10.37398/JSR.2020.640226
Rajput, M., Pamecha, D., Kumari, P., Chaturvedi, P., Sharma, C., Mishra, R. & Chauhan, S. (2024). Bio-bleaching of Ankara pulp with xylanase-producing bacterial consortium for sustainable handmade paper production. Current Research in Microbial Sciences, 7, 100262. DOI: 10.1016/j.crmicr.2024.100262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crmicr.2024.100262
Satyanarayana, N., Chauhan, S., Mishra, R. & Mathur, R. (2025). Effect of PGPR-enriched biofertilizers from handmade paper industry effluents on green chilli (Capsicum frutescens) cultivation. Plant Science Today, 12(2). DOI: 10.14719/pst.8087.https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.8087
Goenka, A.S. & Kulkarni, T.V. (2026). Impact of circular economy on a sustainable future-documenting the product design process of handmade papers in Pune. Journal of Environmental Biology, 47, 486–494. DOI: 10.22438/jeb/47/2(SI)/SI-06https://doi.org/10.22438/jeb/47/2(SI)/SI-06
Chauhan, S.; Gurdaswani, V. and Meena, B.L. (2022) “Microbial pigments for dyeing handmade paper” Abstract published in the proceedings of the 5th international conference on “Advances in Smart Agriculture and Biodiversity Conservation for Sustainable Development- SABCD’2022” organized at Jaipur National University, Jaipur from 4-6th Mar’2022, pp.364
Tahir, P. M., Ahmed, A. B., SaifulAzry, S. O. A., & Ahmed, Z. (2011). Retting process of some bast plant fibers and its effect on fibre quality: A review. BioResources, 6(4), 5260–5281.https://doi.org/10.15376/biores.6.4.5260-5281
Chauhan, S., Sharma, A.K., Jain, R.K., Jain, R.K. (2013). Enzymatic Retting: A Revolution in the Handmade Papermaking from Calotropis procera . In: Kuhad, R., Singh, A. (eds) Biotechnology for Environmental Management and Resource Recovery. Springer, India. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-0876-1_5
Lee, C. H., Khalina, A., Lee, S. H., Liu, Ming, A Comprehensive Review on Bast Fibre Retting Process for Optimal Performance in Fibre-Reinforced Polymer Composites, Advances in Materials Science and Engineering, 2020, 6074063, 27 pages, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/6074063
Chauhan. S and Hussain. G,. (2009). Machine made Vs. Handmade Paper”. Souvenir of handmade paper industry published by KVIC during the international conference on pulp and paper industry (PAPEREX-2009):. 75-80.
Das, B., Chakrabarti, K., Ghosh, S., Majumdar, B., Tripathi, S. & Chakraborty, A. (2012). Effect of efficient pectinolytic bacterial isolates on retting and fibre quality of jute. Industrial Crops and Products, 36(1), 415–419. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2011.10.003
Hasan, R., Aktar, N., Kabir, S.M.T., Honi, U., Halim, A., Islam, R., Sarker, M.D.H., Haque, M.S., Alam, M.M. & Islam, M.S. (2020). Pectinolytic bacterial consortia reduce jute retting period and improve fibre quality. Scientific Reports, 10, 5174. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-61898-z
Akhtar, M., Lentz, M.J., Blanchette, R.A. & Kirk, T.K. (1997). Corn steep liquor lowers the amount of inoculum for biopulping. TAPPI Journal, 80(6), 161–164.
Singh, G., Kaur, S., Khatri, M. & Arya, S.K. (2019). Biobleaching for pulp and paper industry in India: Emerging enzyme technology. Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology, 17, 558–565. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bcab.2019.01.019
Mora, F., Comtat, J., Barnoud, F., Pla, F. & Noe, P. (2007). Action of xylanases on chemical pulp fibers. Part I: Investigations on cell-wall modifications. Journal of Wood Chemistry and Technology, 6(2), 147–165. https://doi.org/10.1080/02773818608085221
Bajpai, P. & Bajpai, P.K. (1994). Biological colour removal of pulp and paper mill wastewaters. Journal of Biotechnology, 33(3), 211–220.
Kumar A, Srivastava NK, Gera P. Removal of color from pulp and paper mill wastewater- methods and techniques- A review. J Environ Manage. 2021 Nov 15;298:113527. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113527. Epub 2021 Aug 17. PMID: 34411799.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113527
Anju, M., Kakkar, S., & Gupta, S. (2018). Removal of colour from alkali extracted wastewater of pulp and paper mill using fly ash as adsorbent. Journal of Applied and Natural Science, 10(4), 1318–1324.https://doi.org/10.31018/jans.v10i4.1836
Moya, R., Tenorio, C., Puente-Urbina, A., Rosales-López, C. & Vega-Baudrit, J. (2023). Production of paper using biopulping of pineapple leaves fibers (PALF) followed by chemical and xylanase-enzymatic processing. Journal of Natural Fibers, 20(1), 2163025. https://doi.org/10.1080/15440478.2022.2163025
Singh,S.N. and Chauhan,S.(2000) “Handmade Paper in the Context of Gre en, Clean and Closed Loop System” IPPTA J. 12(4):67-75 (Dec.2000). (Pub. Indian Pulp and Paper Technological Association, ISSN-0379- 5462)
DOI
10.62226/ijarst20262832
PAGES : 1-9 | 6 VIEWS | 3 DOWNLOADS
How do you cite this paper?
Dr. Sunita Chauhan, Mr. P. K Chauhan and Dr. Rahul Mishra — “Integrating Biotechnology and Circular Economy Principles for Sustainable Rural Handmade Paper Enterprises.” International Journal of Advanced Research in Science and Technology (IJARST), Volume 15, Issue 10. DOI: 10.62226/ijarst20262832.
Dr. Sunita Chauhan, Mr. P. K Chauhan and Dr. Rahul Mishra | Integrating Biotechnology and Circular Economy Principles for Sustainable Rural Handmade Paper Enterprises | DOI : 10.62226/ijarst20262832
Journal Frequency:
ISSN 2320-1126, Monthly
Paper Submission:
Throughout the month
Acceptance Notification:
Within 6 days
Subject Areas:
Engineering, Science & Technology
Publishing Model:
Open Access
Publication Fee:
USD 60 USD 50
Publication Impact Factor:
6.76
Certificate Delivery:
Digital
Publish your research with IJARST and engage with global scientific minds