LAHORE: Newspaper waste is being sent to Afghanistan due to attractive prices thus creating shortage for local paper mills, the stakeholders of the industry told Daily Times on Thursday. They said the importers of newspaper waste are getting at least 30 percent more if they sell it in Peshawar rather then selling it to local paper mills. From Peshawar, the brokers sell the waste to Afghan traders. The rate of imported newspaper waste is Rs 30-32 per Kg in Peshawar while the rate in Lahore is Rs 20-22 per Kg and Rs 18-20/Kg in Karachi. The local paper mills buy it for Rs 18-20 per Kg and it force the traders to sell their waste to Afghanistan. The newspaper waste is recycled and used in making newsprint and paper sheets. The newspaper waste of Pakistan is not in demand in Afghanistan due to certain reasons, as Afghan don\'t want newspaper having Quranic verses written on newspaper, said an importer Muhammad Mubeen adding the Afghans also demand for having no picture of mosques in the newspaper. He said therefore importers opt for foreign waste. "Due to such reasons, the local newspaper are not sent to Afghanistan and we have to import newspapers from other countries," he said adding that the newspaper waste is imported from the UK, Turkey, Greece and the USA. He said first three countries are favourite for newspaper waste import, as consignments from these countries reach within 25 to 30 days while the consignment from the USA reaches in 55 to 60 days. The newspaper waste if imported from these countries then it costs around Rs 17-19/Kg but Turkish newspaper waste is in high demand due to better quality. He said due to huge parity between local prices, the traders prefer to sell paper to foreigners. An Afghan trader Zahar Souhail, who came from Jalalabad to buy newspaper waste from Lahore, said he buys newspaper from Peshawar at the rate of Rs 30 per Kg and sell it for Rs 35-38 in Afghanistan. "I have come to buy directly from Lahore and maximise my profit," he said adding newspaper waste is used in packing while the hotels; shops and vegetable vendors also use it. "We don\'t use any newspaper which has Quaranic verses or holy photos," he added. A paper miller said local newspaper waste only cater 50 percent of our demand while the rest is covered through imported newspapers but after the trend, the paper mills have to opt for other waste like board, paper pulp etc. He said the price of newsprint has decreased in the world but cost of making it locally is not viable for the mills. "The government should look into the matter and save the local industry," he lamented