Waste paper quality key to production yield as KleanNara launches joint venture's Anseong factory

KleanNara has begun full operations at the Anseong factory of Korea Neo Technology (KNT), a joint venture established to manage the company's waste paper supply chain. The arrangement keeps existing waste paper supplier relationships intact while using the separate joint venture to bolster raw material sorting and quality control.

KleanNara announced Monday that KNT held a completion ceremony at the Anseong factory on Friday and launched full business operations. In paper manufacturing, the quality and supply stability of waste paper — the primary raw material — directly affect production yield and finished product quality. Even among waste paper of the same grade, production efficiency can vary depending on contaminants, moisture content and quality inconsistencies, making sorting and management at the raw material stage critical.

KNT handles the entire process from securing waste paper to sorting, compression, quality control and supply. KleanNara established the venture jointly with Taeseo Recycling, a waste paper distributor, and Ugly Lab, a resource-circulation startup.

The structure combines Taeseo Recycling's field experience and trading network with KleanNara's waste paper demand and Ugly Lab's expertise in resource circulation. KNT plans to expand investment in sorting and compression equipment and quality management systems to handle raw materials sourced from waste paper generators according to defined quality standards.

Particular focus is placed on tracking volume, quality and transaction history from the point of intake to reduce variability in raw material quality. Waste paper supplied by KNT feeds directly into KleanNara's paper production process. KleanNara expects that more uniform raw material quality will improve production yield and efficiency while also strengthening supply stability.

Existing trading relationships with the waste paper cooperative and current suppliers will continue after the joint venture's launch. Rather than consolidating the existing supply chain under the joint venture, the company said it intends to diversify its supply chain by adding KNT as an additional channel for high-quality raw materials.

"KNT is a mutually beneficial cooperation model that respects the field expertise and trading networks of existing waste paper businesses while combining the capabilities of participating companies to strengthen supply chain competitiveness," a KleanNara official said. "We will strengthen relationships with existing partners and support KNT's growth into a specialized high-quality waste paper company."

KNT plans to first build up its waste paper procurement and management capabilities in the Greater Seoul area and the Chungcheong region before gradually expanding its operational base to the Yeongnam and Honam regions. The company also intends to introduce an IT-based management system that digitizes waste paper intake and output records along with quality data to improve supply chain operational efficiency.