A specialized process in which office wastepaper is used to produce clean, recycled pulp that can be used to make recycled content paper and paperboards. Please pay attention how many times that pulps are washes and cleaned.
1.) Wastepaper from office, school and business recycling programs is collected by outside waste-management companies that sort the waste and then sell it in bales to the mill.
2.) While in the mill, the wastepaper is mixed with water and chemicals, and reduced to pulp slurry in a giant blender called the “pulper.”
3.) After pulping, the pulp mix is diluted with water and passes through a system of cleaning equipment and screens. This cleaning process is necessary for the removal of large contaminants such as wood, plastic, rocks, glass and paper clips, along with small contaminants like string, glue and other sticky materials.
4.) After the cleaning, the pulp is pressed to remove the added water and the dissolved inks, and is then fed into a kneading machine. During kneading, the pulp fibers are rubbed against each other, further loosening the inks, while kneading chemicals are added to begin the brightening process. Brightening the pulp counters any yellowing affect sometimes seen in paper containing wood fibers like those used for newspaper.
5.) After the fibers are soaked in chemicals for about three hours in a storage chest we can see that the pulp is much whiter and cleaner than it was before the brightening process. Now the fibers are send through a fine screening process that removes any remaining glue particles and small contaminants.
6.) After the screening process, we need to remove all the inks. Here the pulp is mixed with chemicals, called surfactants, that suds up like washing machine soap. Ink particles, dirt, glues and other very small contaminants pick up suds and float to the surface where they are skimmed away leaving the pulp even cleaner.
7.) The pulp is then washed, pressed, kneaded and placed in the decolorization chest. A chemical is added to remove any colors that might tint the pulp.
8.) The pulp is then washed again to remove any remaining ink particles, fillers or other contaminants.
10.)The finished recycled pulp is then either sent on a conveyor to the mill for papermaking or it is formed into sheets of pulp, called "wet lap," for shipment and sale.
We have included a diagram of the fiber recycling process for an easier visualization of the actual process. The diagram was extracted from Recover Incorporated.
[Courtesy of: Recover Incorporated.]
Section I: Introduction
Section II: Present (YOU ARE CURRENTLY IN THIS SECTION)
Section III: Future
Complete Table of Contents
Reference