![](https://www0.sun.ac.za/researchforimpact/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Paper_Waste_Cover-1-1024x576.jpg)
Demo waste plant set to improve the sustainability of SA’s paper industry
To help South Africa’s paper, packaging and tissue industry secure a more sustainable future — that is the mission of a new demonstration plant at a papermill in KwaZulu-Natal. Driven by the ingenuity of Stellenbosch University’s chemical engineers, it was put into operation in 2023. The plant showcases the value of a process by which paper waste sludge destined for disposal in a landfill is turned into purified, high-value bioethanol.