Nidhi Rao's Portfolio

Kagaz Paper Recycling Machine

Kagaz is a home an office friendly paper recycling machine that aims to make paper recycling more accessible in areas where a lot of paper waste is generated. Paper is a resource used world wide. However, many areas lack recycling plants and do not have adequate collection facilities to gather waste paper and ensure that it gets recycled. Kagaz tries to eliminate the middle man and allow the user to recycle paper at their own will.

Company:

Classroom Project

Duration:

2 Months

Role:

Product Designer

Tools Used:

Solidworks, Keyshot, Blender, Adobe Creative Suite

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The Problem

One tonne of recycled paper can save approximately 17 trees, 2.5 barrels of oil, 4100 kWh of electricity, 4 cubic meters of the landfill and 31,780 liters of water

Is the percentage of waste paper collected in India

Is the percentage of paper that comes back for recycling

Is the percentage of a

company's waste that is paper

Is the percentage of a

company's waste that is paper

20%

30%

70%

Industry Average Number of Pages Printed per day

Research

To understand the process of Paper Recycling in more depth, I visited ‘Sainsons Paper Mill’ in Kurukshetra. Sainsons is an agro-based industry which uses the stalks of wheat and waste paper to produce ‘Kraft Paper’.

Sorting

Process of Paper Recycling at a Recycling Plant

Shredding

Compressing

Pulping

Drying and Rolling

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Industrial Design

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Nidhi Rao

About

Industrial Design

Ui/Ux Design

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Nidhi Rao

Pulping

Mould

Shredding

Drying

Process of Paper Recycling at Home

Post Office Manager

Software Engineer

Print Office Employee

Academic Office Employee

Post Office Manager

Software Engineer

Print Office Employee

Academic Office Employee

Post Office Manager

Software Engineer

Print Office Employee

Academic Office Employee

Academic Office Employee

Print Office Employee

Academic Office Employee

Print Office Employee

"The Process of Recycling paper varies slightly depending on the type of paper. Some pulps need to be soaked longer than other pulps"

“Depending on the impurities in the pulp, the colour of the recycled paper varies. Usually, white paper has a much higher demand in the market"

"The gsm (grams per square meter) of the paper also affects how much grinding and pulping is needed to recycle the paper"

Industry Expert

General Manager of Operations

Sainsons Paper Mill

"The Process of Recycling paper varies slightly depending on the type of paper. Some pulps need to be soaked longer than other pulps"

“Depending on the impurities in the pulp, the colour of the recycled paper varies. Usually, white paper has a much higher demand in the market"

"The gsm (grams per square meter) of the paper also affects how much grinding and pulping is needed to recycle the paper"

Industry Expert

General Manager of Operations

Sainsons Paper Mill

"The Process of Recycling paper varies slightly depending on the type of paper. Some pulps need to be soaked longer than other pulps"

“Depending on the impurities in the pulp, the colour of the recycled paper varies. Usually, white paper has a much higher demand in the market"

"The gsm (grams per square meter) of the paper also affects how much grinding and pulping is needed to recycle the paper"

Industry Expert

General Manager of Operations

Sainsons Paper Mill

“Paper is a precious resource and we cannot afford to waste anything"

“We have mostly moved onto digital documents now"

“We generate a lot of paper waste but there's no recycling plant nearby"

''We burn any waste
paper that has
confidential information"

Interviews

Different people were
interviewed to understand the relevance of paper in their lives

“Depending on the impurities in the pulp, the colour of the recycled paper varies. Usually, white paper has a much higher demand in the market"

"The gsm (grams per square meter) of the paper also affects how much grinding and pulping is needed to recycle the paper"

"The Process of Recycling paper varies slightly depending on the type of paper. Some pulps need to be soaked longer than other pulps"

Finding Technologies

In order to build a paper recycling machine, I decided to find devices that could be used in the process. I finalized on a Paper shredder, a blender and a sandwich press

Concept Development

The next step was to find a way to make the machine work. I tried to imagine how paper recycling could be contained to a single machine

Finding a Form

The challenge was to find a form that not only looked like it would fit well in an office environment, but also accommodate the internal mechanism

Final Renders

In order to fit into an office environment, I experimented with different colours and textures. I finally settled on a neutral colour scheme that would suit most offices