Improving waste paper collection from offices and households

What is shaping pulp & paper

Paper and packaging demand is shifting from writing and printing grades towards packaging, hygiene and recycled products. Buyers are printers, converters, brand owners and schools, each with different priorities.

• E-commerce is driving packaging demand
• Recycled and sustainable grades are gaining preference
• Price and delivery reliability dominate B2B buying

A recycled paper manufacturer, working in Delhi NCR & Mumbai. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.

Organisation

A recycled paper manufacturer

Sector

Pulp & paper

Team engaged

Market Research

Services

Quantitative research, Qualitative research, Research consultancy

The manufacturer depended on imported waste paper, which had become expensive and unreliable. It wanted to increase domestic collection but did not understand how paper moved from homes and offices through scrap dealers to mills. Domestic waste paper was available in large quantities, but its quality was inconsistent and collection was fragmented.

• Deliver on the brief: improving waste paper collection from offices and households.
• Understand the views, needs and behaviour of households.
• Understand the views, needs and behaviour of offices.
• Measure how widespread each pattern is, and explain the reasons behind it.
• Give the client evidence it can act on within 7 weeks.

The work focused on 1,200 households, 200 offices and 40 scrap dealers.

• households1,200
• offices200
• scrap dealers40

Audiences we typically reach in pulp & paper

Printers and convertersPackaging buyers at brandsPaper tradersSchools and stationery retailersRecycling businesses

Coverage: Delhi NCR & Mumbai. Market: India.

• India

A mixed-method design: structured research measured how widespread each pattern was, and qualitative conversations explained why.

1. 1Brief
2. 2Household and office survey
3. 3Interviews with scrap dealers
4. 4Insight

We surveyed households and offices about paper disposal and selling habits, and interviewed scrap dealers and aggregators about collection, sorting, prices and quality problems. Interviewers also followed collection routes with aggregators to understand sorting and storage practices in godowns.

Quantitative researchQualitative researchResearch consultancy

households

1,200

offices

200

scrap dealers

40

• Business respondents were screened on role, company size and involvement in the decision before being invited.
• Respondents were selected across Delhi NCR & Mumbai using quotas set in advance for each location and respondent type, so no single area or group dominated.
• Qualitative participants were recruited purposively to cover the full range of experiences that mattered, rather than for statistical representation.

• Trained local-language interviewers conducted interviews in person, supervised in the field.
• Interviews and discussions were led by experienced moderators using a guide agreed with the client.

• Back-checks on a share of completed interviews
• Time and location checks on field interviews
• Supervisor accompaniment in the field
• Recordings and transcripts for every session
• Re-screening of qualitative recruits
• Logic and range checks on the final data
• Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures

• Cross-tabulation by key groups and locations
• Significance testing on the differences that mattered
• Thematic coding of interviews and discussions
• Journey and decision mapping

• Most paper was sold mixed and wet, reducing its value, and offices lacked convenient collection.

Quality improved when the value of segregation reached the people doing it.

• Build on the core insight: quality improved when the value of segregation reached the people doing it.
• Focus effort where the evidence was strongest: most paper was sold mixed and wet, reducing its value, and offices lacked convenient collection.
• Re-measure after the changes to confirm the effect.

• The manufacturer partnered with aggregators on segregated office collection and introduced quality-linked prices.
• Pilot collections from offices delivered noticeably cleaner paper, and the model was extended to more business districts.

What changed in the business as a result of the work. Impact is described qualitatively.

• Insight report and management presentation
• Cleaned data file and data tables
• Interview summaries and key verbatims

• Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
• A natural follow-on question: what do packaging buyers value most in a supplier?