Table of Contents:
1. Paper Bag Manufacturing Business
2. Paper Bag Making Business: Uses
3. Future Of Paper Bag Business
4. Paper Bag Business Plan
5. Paper Bag Making Business
6. Paper Bag Manufacturing Investment
7. Mandatory Raw Materials For Paper Bag Making Business
8. Type Of Paper Bag For Manufacturing Business
9. New Technology For Paper Bag Making Business
10. Recycling In Paper Bag Manufacturing Business
A paper bag is a carry bag made out of paper, usually produced from chemical pulp manufactured in the kraft process. The most relatable example includes the brown paper bags that we get from any and every retail outlet. These paper bags are made from kraft paper. Then there are the gift bags or tote-style paper bags. These are made from a variety of papers that differ in their quality, texture, colour, and print. They can also be made from recycled paper. Paper bags are commonly used in packaging, as sacks, or as shopping bags. Due to its eco-friendliness, paper bags are wanted by most companies to pack their products. The range of its use is vast-from food to medical items.
Some of the areas where paper bags are used are:
The list is endless.
Many countries have banned single-use plastic bags, naturally creating the use of paper bags as an alternative. Some laws require them to have a minimum percentage of post-consumer recycled paper content. The global Kraft paper market is estimated at USD 15.5 billion in 2019 and is estimated to reach USD 18.1 billion by 2026.
All companies want to pack their goods in paper bags, due to its eco-friendliness. Paper bags are biodegradable and recyclable. Hence, a paper bag making business is a good opportunity for business owners to make decent profits. In this article, we will describe how to start such a business.
You first have to make a business plan where the entire idea like logistics, funding, and other details are mentioned. Other information needed includes a list of employees required, location, and plant and machinery. The marketing plan must include a demographic study and a plan on how to market the product. Research well about your target customers. The list below can help you with this:
Try to reduce the distribution channels to keep the prices low and also increase your profit margin.
Paper Bag Manufacturing BusinessYou can visit a paper bags manufacturing firm to learn more about the working of machines.
Paper bag making is a small scale business and will require a minimum investment. You have to plan and invest in land, machinery, and labor. A fully automatic paper bag making machine will cost around Rs 5 lakh-Rs 8 lakh. The price varies according to the production capacity. One fully automatic machine can produce around 15,000 pieces per hour.
A semi-automatic machine is also available whose price is below Rs 3 lakh. However, the production capacity is lower than the automatic one, and you will have to depend more on your labor. The Paper bag machine price for the manual type is around Rs 50,000. With an initial investment of around Rs 50 lakhs, you can hope to make roughly 60 lakh units/year.
Also read: Paper Cup Manufacturers in India
If you want to start paper bag manufacturing business on a small scale, you can operate from your home also. For this, you will only need a Trade Licence. But if you are planning something bigger, then you first need to register your company with the Registrar of Companies (ROC). Then you will have to apply for the Trade Licence with the local municipal authorities. You will also have to get your unit registered as a Small Scale Industry (SSI). To manufacture paper bags, you will also need a Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification. You will also need some other documents for your daily business activities:
You have to fulfil all the above procedures and legal requirements before you can start your business.
Also read: Cardboard Box Manufacturers in India
Try to choose a location for your manufacturing unit should be located in such a place where you can reduce your costs. So, you will have to find such a place where electricity charges are less, labor wages are low, rent or the real estate costs are on the lower side, and the cost of other facilities is also less. A semi-urban area is most suitable for this business because of lower taxes. Also, it should be near to your market, to keep transportation costs minimum. To start a paper bag business in India, a manufacturing space of around 2000 square feet will be sufficient.
Also read: Carry Bag Manufacturers in India
There are two methods for making paper bags:
Some of the other ancillary machines to be purchased are:
Also Read: Cloth Bag Manufacturers in India
All raw materials should be procured in the right quantity to ensure a smooth flow of production. The raw materials needed for the paper manufacturing business include:
There are a lot of niche products available for various markets:
Also read: Kraft Paper Manufacturers in India
Since paper making is a small scale business, it will not require much labor. You can run a production unit with around 10 people. Besides, you can hire a graphic designer to do the logo work and other designs.
The latest demand from various industries especially the food industry is for biodegradable packaging. The biodegradable packaging is made with recycled paper pulp. Enzymes drawn from cotton, wheat husk, or other organic material react with them. The paper is manufactured mostly by using carbon-neutral methods. Poly Lactic Acid ( PLA ), a polymer produced from corn or tapioca starch, is used to make the packaging leakproof.
While manufacturing paper bags for food items, you should be very careful. Toxic substances may end up in undesirable incidents. So be careful.
Paper bags are readily recyclable. The recycling process is done by re-pulping the paper and then pressing it into the required shapes. The waste paper is first collected, sorted by machine or hand, washed, turned to sludge, purified, poured, flattened, dried, bleached or coloured, cut, and packaged. But each step of the process requires intensive energy and the use of huge machines.
Most people want to use paper bags because of the environmental benefits. Besides, technical advancements have made them easy to carry, clean, and store items for a long time. So, it makes sense to start a paper bags business. We hope that the above article will clear all your doubts about this venture.
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Ans- Yes, the paper bag making business is profitable in India but in the longer run. For example, A paper bag with 18cm x 25cm will cost around Rs 3.40 inclusive of labour and material cost. And the market price will be 3.50 rupees, hence, the profit per paper bag in India is 0.10 Paise.
Ans- Paper bag making is a small scale business and will require a decent amount of investment. You have to plan and invest in land, machinery, and labour. A fully automatic paper bag making machine will cost around Rs 5 lakh-Rs 8 lakh. With an initial investment of around Rs 50 lakhs, you can hope to make roughly 60 lakh units/year.
Ans- These are the definitive steps or things to keep in mind before starting a paper bag making business:
Ans- Money Required to Start a Paper Bag Business: You have to plan and invest in land, machinery, and labour. A fully automatic paper bag making machine will cost around Rs 5 lakh-Rs 8 lakh. The price varies according to the production capacity. One fully automatic machine can produce around 15,000 pieces per hour.
Ans- The method of papermaking uses raw materials that include:
Ans- In India, the price of one fully automatic paper bag making machine is around Rs. 5 to 9 Lakhs. This price varies on the production capacity of the machine. A standard full automatic paper bag manufacturing can create 15,000 in just an hour.
Ans- Yes, Paper bags are better than plastic due to being eco-friendly and sustainable. Being a biodegradable substance it's easier to recycle and can also be used for composting purposes.
Ans- Some common disadvantages of paper bags are:
Ans- Kraft paper is used for making paper bags. Its made of softwood sulphate which is generally a yellowish-brown, thick light-brown, white or cream paper-making material that weighs between 80 and 120 grams. The Kraft papers' tensile strength is very high.
Ans- Here are some of the best tips to sell your handmade paper bags from home:
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Paper bags are eco-friendly alternatives to plastic bags and have become increasingly popular due to their sustainability and biodegradability. They are made from sustainable resources such as waste paper and agricultural waste, which makes them a popular choice for environmentally conscious consumers.Starting a paper bag making business can be a lucrative venture and requires minimal investment. Here is an overview of paper bags industry and how to set up a paper bag making business.There are three kinds of paper bags that can be made using different processes. The V bottom bag, also known as a paper lifafa has the cheapest manufacturing process. A manufacturer can purchase automatic machines which make bags from reels of paper worth Rs 8-10 lakhs from many manufacturers in India.The SOS Paper Bag machine starts from Rs 70 lakh and the manufacturing process of both varieties of bags is identical. Paper reels are loaded onto these machines, the paper is printed, folded, pasted and cut in a single-line process and the finished bag comes out.The Paper Carry Bag machine has a semi-automatic process and a fully automatic process. One can make these bags on the SOS Paper bag machine and then manually paste handles to convert the bag into a carry bag with handles. Alternately a fully automatic paper carry bag machine will cost around Rs 2.5 crore to setup. That fully automatic production line will have two paper reels as inputs and two coils of paper rope. The paper bag on such machines will be manufactured using the same method with the addition of handles being made on a parallel line and then being fed and pasted before the end of the line and the final paper carry bag comes out fully formed.Another way to start a paper carry bag business is to use a manual process to make paper carry bags. In India fully automatic paper carry bag machines arrived 2012 onwards and historically handle bags were made by hand.The process to make paper carry bags by hand is to buy paper sheets instead of paper reels.Standard sheet sizes are 20x30 inch and 23x36 inch with which most common sizes of carry bags can be made. These sheets are between 100-150 GSM for low cost bags and 150-220 GSM for luxury bags. Sheets are then printed by offset machines, die cut using a pressing machine and then folded and pasted by hand and then handles are installed onto these bags to complete the process.Setup cost of such a setup is quite low as offset printing and die cutting can be easily outsourced, all you need is working capital for paper and a place for manual labor to work. There are sheet-to-bag machines also available that can fold and paste pre-printed sheets, but that process is not popular due to low speeds.The paper bag industry in India is quite fragmented and most of the successful manufacturers are focusing on exports. Indian recycled paper has a tremendous price advantage over the world and with low labor costs Indian paper bag manufacturers can penetrate foreign markets easily. Access to working capital is being supported by government schemes like Mudra and CGTMSE. Capex can be funded without collateral through several SIDBI schemes for which one can apply online with a quick turnaround time.The market is currently in a down cycle right now and that presents great opportunities for new entrants to purchase second-hand machines cheaply. There were around 300-400 new production lines set up in the last 2 years which first suffered due to covid and now due to lower demands. The market is about to have a lot of churn providing opportunities to destabilize entrenched suppliers in large buying houses. Trained operators of such machines are always in shortfall but due to the market conditions, these are also available easily.Usually such market downcycles last a few quarters with the impact being felt on quantities rather than the number of buyers. This is the perfect time for new players to establish themselves as no one is in a hurry for supplies but everyone is looking for a lower price. In this industry, most large players are within Rs 50-100 crore in turnover and are currently suffering from diseconomies of scale as their costs are adjusted for humungous growth making them unviable to compete with single machine manufacturers supplying locally to local buyers.Starting a paper bag making business is a lucrative venture that has gained popularity due to its eco-friendliness. By following the steps outlined above, you can start your own paper bag making business and not only a good income but also contribute to a sustainable future.(The writers is founder and CEO of Adeera Packaging)