TARA Paper is a recycled handmade paper unit that realises "waste to wealth" and integrates this in every process, product and practice. It was set up in 1996 in Orchha under the sustainable livelihood program for Sahariya Tribal women in Central India. It is an initiative of Technology & Action for Rural Advancement (TARA) - a social enterprise set up in 1985 in New Delhi, India - which serves as the incubation wing of the Development Alternatives Group that provides development solutions in India and elsewhere.

Around the world, waste generation rates are rising. In 2020, the world was estimated to generate 2.24 billion tonnes of solid waste, amounting to a footprint of 0.79 kilograms per person per day. With rapid population growth and urbanization, annual waste generation is expected to increase by 73% from 2020 levels to 3.88 billion tonnes in 2050.

This is a particularly acute problem in developing countries, where poorly managed waste severely impacts the most vulnerable residents. In low-income countries, over 90% of waste is often disposed of in unregulated dumps or openly burned. These practices create serious health, safety, and environmental consequences. Improperly managed waste serves as a breeding ground for disease vectors, contributes to global climate change through methane generation and can even promote urban violence.

Waste management is essential for building sustainable and liveable cities, as it is a potential source of wealth. However, its implementation remains a challenge for many developing countries and cities. Cellulose materials and paper waste emanating from industries are no exceptions, not only because of the potential value and uses the world could find them but also due to their impact on the environment when they are not recovered or recycled.

Having identified this problem, TARA initiated the handmade paper recycling unit within its premises in India. It is an enterprise based on the “waste to wealth” practice, which uses low-cost and efficient equipment to convert cellulosic material into handmade paper. It started as a sustainable livelihood program for these women in Orchha, Central India, as it provides livelihood to 40 women from the nearby Sahariya tribal community, who were impoverished and had no other means of earning.

The paper is made using non-forest raw materials, specifically recycled and waste materials like cotton rags, denim cuttings, jute, other cellulosic fibres and waste paper. The majority of waste comes from small- to medium-scale textile enterprises that generate waste in the form of cotton rags and remnants of garment cutting.

TARA has diversified its product offerings to expand its application and user base. Thus, it offers paper in a wide range of GSM and enables value addition in the form of embossing. TARA offers its developed technology and equipment to interested groups and organizations to create awareness and promote others to effectively manage their waste. The ease in installing, operating, and maintaining the machinery, as well as its affordability, makes it easily scale-able. It also provides long-term support services.

TARA addresses the need for paper and paper products in India and internationally, by providing a circular solution. The equipment can make between 25 and 75 kgs of paper per day, based on the machine used.

It is estimated that one tonne of TARA paper saves 3 tonnes of wood and 100 cubic meters of water and creates INR 40,000 (Indian Rupees) in wages, providing: 6 trees for life-giving oxygen, soil, and water, 3 years of cooking fuel for one village family, 25 years’ drinking water for one person, 1 square foot of land for a waste dump site, 1 month’s income for 20 village women.

Beyond its environmental benefits, TARA creates jobs and incomes to promote socio-economic inclusivity and provide livelihood opportunities to marginalized communities. It enables system resilience by training, skilling, and engaging unskilled women and unemployed youth.

TARA’s vision is to offer an easily scalable solution that encourages communities that work toward circularity in textiles. It incubates scalable products in Bundelkhand, Central India, and services the national network in India as well as parts of South East Asia and Africa. One of the main agendas of this program is to provide a low-cost mini-recycling setup to educational institutions to help them self-manage their waste and instil values of circularity in children and youth by promoting a conversation on 'circular economy' in schools.

Finally, it promotes further R&D in the sector by exploring themes such as better uses of renewable biomass fibers like banana fiber, straws, and grasses.

TARAgram Orchha, located on the banks of Barberi stream, is a Sustainable Livelihood Resource Centre close to the beautiful and historic town of Orchha (in Madhya Pradesh, Central India). It was set up in 1995 as a technology village by Development Alternatives. It has, over the years, demonstrated the economic viability of sustainable production systems through an industrial estate for mini-enterprises, providing jobs for local people and generating goods and services for local markets.

Photo by Peter Albion (flickr)