Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T11:02:09.606Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Filler Pigments Designed for Recyclability*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2013

June D. Passaretti ,
Trudy D. Young ,
Mick J. Herman  and
D. Bruce Evans
Get access

Extract

Printing and writing paper represents 30% by weight of all domestically made paper products. Today, however, less than 50% of that paper is recycled. The problem with waste paper from homes and offices is that it contains dyes, inks, and chemicals. If these additives are not removed properly—with no fiber degradation—the recycled paper will be of an inferior quality for writing and printing.

Recycling, however, is the future. In 1990, 28.9 million tons of paper were collected for recycling, representing a collection rate of 33.5%. By the year 1995, the collection rate goal is 40%, with favorable economics supporting increased utilization of recovered paper. For example, a ton of paper made from 100% waste paper saves 17 trees, 4,100 kWh of energy (approximately 6 months of power used by the average home), 7,000 gallons of water, 60 pounds of air-polluting effluents, and 3 cubic yards of landfill.

Two of the issues facing recycled fiber utilization are the cost and visual quality of the final sheet. Paper brightness, opacity, and printability are the industry's biggest concerns when comparing the quality of recycled fibers to that of virgin fibers. The common approach to increasing brightness is to add a white filler pigment such as precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC), ground limestone, clay, and/or titanium dioxide. Chemical optical brighteners have also been used, but their use will decline as consumers ask what impact the brightening chemicals have on the environment.

Type
Reprocessing Paper and Wood-Based Materials
Information
MRS Bulletin , Volume 19 , Issue 2 , February 1994 , pp. 41 - 45
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

This article is a modification of an article published in Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings Vol. 266, (1992) p. 289.

References

1.Schriver, K.E., Pulp and Paper (March 1990) p. 76.Google Scholar
2.Howard, R.C., Pulp and Paper Sci. 16 (5) (September 1990) p. 143.Google Scholar
3.Rangamannar, G. and Silveri, L., TAPPI J. (July 1990) p. 188.Google Scholar
4.Broeren, L.A., in Reference 1, p. 71.Google Scholar
5.Garbage Mag. (November 1990).Google Scholar
6.McGinnis, W.J., (TAPPI, 1984) p. 250.Google Scholar
7.Hagemeyer, R.W, in Reference 6, p. 53.Google Scholar
8.Passaretti, J.D., Proc. 1991 TAPPl Papermakers Conference (TAPPI, 1991) p. 293.Google Scholar
9.Gill, R.A., Proc. 1988 TAPPI Papermakers Conference (TAPPI, 1988) p. 39.Google Scholar
10.Herbet, A.J. and Lopez, H.A., TAPPI J. 68 (7) (1985) p. 86.Google Scholar
11.Crawshaw, D.B., Clark, P.C., and Kahn-Schneider, C.H., Proc. 1982 TAPPI Coating Conference (TAPPI, 1982) p. 143.Google Scholar
12.Gill, R.A., in Materials Interactions Relevant to the Pulp, Paper, and Wood Industries, edited by Caulfield, D.F., Passaretti, J.D., and Sobczynski, S.F. (Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 197, Pittsburgh, PA, 1990) p. 325.Google Scholar
13.Evans, D.B., Drummond, D.K., and Koppelman, M.H., in Reference 8, p. 321.Google Scholar
14.Passaretti, J.D., U.S. Patent No. 5,043,017 (August 1991).Google Scholar
15.Passaretti, J.D., U.S. Patent No. 5,156,719 (September 1992).Google Scholar
16.Passaretti, J.D., U.S. Patent No. 5,215,734 (June 1993).Google Scholar
17.Passaretti, J.D., U.S. Patent No. 5,227,025 (July 1993).Google Scholar
18. Paper Research Materials, Inc., Syracuse, NY.Google Scholar