Have you ever had a shop floor worker walking up to you, holding your hands and thanking you for making his life better – especially when you are not his employer and he has never seen you before?

Read on:

A paper mill in Tamil Nadu that makes brown packaging paper called kraft paper had a serious problem of odour. The entire plant area carried an unbearable stench and it was impossible to stand for more than 15 minutes without getting a feeling of nausea or headache or both. This company was using biocides and hypo-chlorite (standard practice in paper mills) in more than adequate quantities, but this wasn’t solving the problem. They called us over to help them fix this vexing issue of pervasive odour.

After an evaluation of their process and their source of problems, we worked out a solution. We asked them to completely stop usage of biocides and hypo which are hazardous chemicals and replace the same with our product. There was disbelief initially as we were replacing strong toxic chemicals with a benign, eco-friendly, non-toxic, virtually food grade product.

A dosing program of our product ProSolve was worked out and in less than two weeks, there was a transformation. The entire plant area became odour free and you could walk the length and breadth of the plant without flinching your nose. We were happy that we could solve a customer’s pain point and looked forward to expanding our business.

However, a talk with the worker who thanked me, made me realise the deeper value of our solution. He said “Earlier, my entire body, my clothes and my hair used to stink:

  • When I got into a public transport, people moved away from me and sometimes I am asked to get down
  • At home, my family will not allow me in unless I have a bath and I have to wash my clothes separately as they don’t want it mixing with theirs
  • Everyday, at lunch I could not smell what I eat and the whole process of eating was just a chore
  • Most of the days, I ended up having an unbearable headache.

For me, it is a different world now. I enjoy my lunch, no one moves away from me, my children hug me when I come home and my headache is history. Thank you, Sir.”

I looked back and thought – To me this is business but to many this is life. I am proud to be part of ProKlean. With our technology, we can transform lives. There are many, many paper factories that make this brown packing paper/ cardboard that is part of our lives today. The smell in and around these factories is unbearable. Hypo-chlorite, a cheap but hazardous chemical is dosed in generous quantities to control the odour. Hypo is extremely hazardous to humans, environment and equipment.

  • It is carcinogenic and hence it is a serious health hazard.
  • It is toxic to aquatic life and can deplete oxygen levels in water bodies
  • It is extremely corrosive and necessitates frequent replacement of pipes and equipment

Above all, odour problem persists inspite of using high quantities of Hypo. Consequently, the workers in these units work under miserable conditions. With ProSolve, we have eliminated the odour and initiated a change that promises to make life better for thousands of workers employed in these paper mills. And in the process, we replace hazardous chemicals which damage equipment and environment.