According to Indian media, a whopping 22 billion currency notes of Rs500 and Rs1,000 denomination were in circulation in India as of March 31. RBI?s regional office in Thiruvananthapuram had inquired about a firm?s capability to recycle currency notes a couple of weeks before the government made the announcement of the demonetization of the two denominations, they had decided to recycle notes instead of burning them. 30 to 40 per cent of the hardboard and fibreboard products made by recycling the scrapped bills are being exported through Dubai by this firm, of the south Indian state of Kerala which was chosen by the Reserve Bank of India to recycle the demonetised notes that are being returned to the RBI as pieces of paper with no value. Since last month, RBI has been selling briquettes of banned notes that are shredded for a charge of Rs250 (Dh13.58) per metric tonne and almost 60 tonnes of shredded notes a week are being sold to this firm for the preservation and protection of our environment.

The locally imported boards are used for making furniture such as wardrobes, shelves, drawer bottoms, photo frames and mirror frame backing and for making partitions. The market for the recycled products in Dubai was developed by Percept Trading Company in Sharjah. Fiberboard made with recycled bills exported via Jebel Ali port, sold to local manufacturers.

The initial trials using normal recycling methods were a failure as it was difficult to pulp the shredded notes properly. Then the company made use of the thermomechanical pulping method. It uses high electrical energy, steam pressure and temperature. The firm started using the pulp of the invalid notes as one of the raw materials that are mixed with wood pulp for making hardboard and fiberboard.

These fiberboards are exported to various countries in Europe, Africa and also to Australia. Products to Egypt and African countries like Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti, Kenya and Tanzania are re-exported via Dubai?s Jebel Ali port. At least 25 containers a month are estimated to be exported via Dubai. Some 10 per cent of these export quality products are bought by local furniture manufacturing units as well. 

source:gulfnews.com