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Recycling of printed products

What can the industry do to make it easier?

THE ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL OF THE SWEDISH PRINTING INDUSTRIES

INTERGRAF

MILGRAF AB

TNO THE DUTCH INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY

WITH SUPPORT FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

REVISED BY INTERGRAF IN 2008 34IX05_Recyclingny 02-04-2008 14:46 Pagina 2

PUBLISHED BY The environmental council of the Swedish printing industries PROJECT MANAGEMENT Marie Silfverstolpe GRAPHIC DESIGN Anders Gustafson, Editor Publishing FIRST EDITION PRINTED IN SWEDEN, 2000 REVISED BY INTERGRAF AND PRINTED IN BELGIUM, 2008 34IX05_Recyclingny 02-04-2008 14:46 Pagina 1

FOREWORD

THE ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL of the Swedish Printing Industry was the leading partner in the initial project carried out in the year 1999/2000. The Environmental Council of the Swedish Printing Industry is a joint body bringing together the Swedish Graphic Companies’ Federation, Swedish Newspaper Publishers’ Association, the Graphic Workers Union, the Union of Clerical and Technical employees, the Swedish Organisation for Managers, and the Swedish Association of Graduate Engineers.

ADDITIONAL PARTNERS in the original project were: • Febelgra, the Belgian Federation of Graphic Industries • Intergraf, the International Confederation for Printing and Allied Industries • TNO, the Dutch Institute of Industrial Technology via its department for and board • Tryckeri AB Primo, a Swedish printing company • Milgraf AB.

The original project enjoyed the support of the European Commission via the Leonardo Programme. It aims at stimulating cooperation and research on environmental, educational or indus- trial subjects among European partners. The Swedish paper industry, mainly SCA and their mill in Ortviken and Aylesford , has supported the project with knowledge and information. Svenskt Papper AB has also support- ed the project. The project does not aim at reporting about the latest scientific developments in the field of paper recovery and recyclability. The findings of different scientific reports were taken into considera- tion. The purpose is to identify problem areas in the field of col- lected waste paper and to suggest solutions to reduce their impact on the process. In 2008 Intergraf undertook to produce an updated version.

INTERGRAF is also a partner of the “European Declaration on Paper Recycling”, jointly signed by several industry associations which promote the effective recycling of waste paper. The first edition of the European Declaration was signed in 2001 and the second one in 2006.

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS has The fact that paper is made from renew- acquired a strategic importance for able sources is the primary argument in European countries and the European favour of printed products, compared with Commission. So far the European other media. A further argument is that it Commission has refrained from introducing can be recycled. This document represents a legislation that would request the recycling contribution of the European printing of waste graphic products. A European industry towards increasing the recycling of legislation on packaging and packaging graphic products. It aims at answering key waste has however been worked out. The questions about the recycling process and European Commission is active in the field distributing knowledge about the recycla- of forest certification, competitiveness of bility of printed products to both the print- the recycling industries, “negotiated agree- ing industry and to its customers. ment” instruments, and standardisation issues. BACKGROUND At national level, most European coun- THE HUSBANDRY OF RECYCLED paper to tries have included waste management and produce new paper is important in an eco- recycling activities among their environ- logical society, because it leads to the effec- mental concerns. Among measures imple- tive utilisation of raw materials and a mented by European countries, print buyers reduction in landfill deposits. Paper recy- and producers of graphic products are cling reduces the costs of waste manage- requested to contribute to a high level of ment, since paper is a large proportion of waste paper collection and increasing recy- traditional waste. In terms of weight, paper cling rates. In some countries laws and reg- and board make up the largest part of solid ulations were adopted, while others rely on waste. voluntary agreements. Some countries levy Through recycling paper valuable land is higher taxes or fees if producers of printed conserved – about 3 square metres per ton material fail to take responsibility for waste of paper. The recycling of paper cannot be paper management. Finally, European citi- done an unlimited number of times, since zens also put pressure on actors in the certain deterioration occurs in the paper “paper communication chain” to place fibre and some fibres are destroyed in every products on the market with a low environ- recycling cycle. Dirty paper cannot be recy- mental impact. A significant part of the cled. Fresh fibres from the forest must solution towards a high recycling rate is the therefore be added to the system. Both production of products enabling an easy fresh and recycled fibres are needed if the recycling process. eco-cycle is to work. The rapid development of information It is not possible to recover all types of technology makes it possible to choose paper, for example hygienic paper cannot be between different media when sending a recovered, and cigarette paper is burned. message, publishing information literature, Some paper is intended for a more perma- or providing entertainment. This puts nent use, e.g. books, archives, artistic works increased commercial pressure on the or accounts, and the print buyer will burn printing industry, which must some. Others are simply non-recoverable demonstrate that environmental because they are bonded to other materials aspects are taken into consideration in their use, which are not recyclable, or throughout the life cycle of print- they are too contaminated. ed products.

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The original motivation for paper recy- newsprint has increased significantly since cling was primarily economic. The inten- the 1980s. Further progress has been made in tion was to use collected waste paper in the the tissue sector. Growing amounts of print- manufacturing of paper. This was primarily ing and office paper are incorporated in recy- a concern in countries without indigenous cled paper. forests, which could ensure their production CEPI, the Confederation of European of newsprint and packaging material. Paper Industries is monitoring closely devel- Today environmental concerns are the main opments in quantities of recovered and recy- motivation. cled paper. CEPI contributed with several Recycled fibre has traditionally been used graphs from their 2006 Annual Statistical in the board industry, for packaging material Report. etc. However, its use in the production of

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PAPER FROM PRINTING PLANTS consists primarily of make ready waste, paper trimmed from sheets and reels, paper left on reel cores There are several reasons why the use of and unwanted or damaged paper, which may recycled fibres has increased: be both printed or non-printed. This paper is • The price of recycled fibres is competitive usually of high quality and contains little for- compared to that of fresh fibres although it eign material. Paper collectors pay according fluctuates. to the quality of the paper, i.e. what type of The cost of transport and the environmen- paper it is and how well it is sorted. tal impact of transport are now taken into Paper collected from various points is consideration. Recycling plants, often sometimes sorted by hand on a conveyor belt. located close to large metropolitan areas, are This is often done on the premises of paper close to the source of the raw materials, collection companies. Wrapping paper, card- which improves the competitiveness of board and other unbleached products with recycled fibres. brown fibres are removed if the paper is to be • Increased initiatives in various parts of the used for manufacturing of magazines or world, as well as commitment to the envi- newsprint. ronment by organisations and citizens, influence the collection of paper positively. DIFFERENT CATEGORIES of waste paper have • The regional, national, and international been established based on criteria such as the importance of environmental questions cre- type of material, the amount of unwanted ates direct and indirect pressure for collec- material it contains, and how it is to be used tion in many countries. Landfill is not seen in the recycling process. More than 50 quali- as an acceptable alternative in many coun- ties are defined in the European standard list tries, while other countries are worried of recovered paper qualities. These categories about waste incineration. This has led to can be divided under four broad headings: increased pressure on collection, recycling, 1) High grades are top quality waste which and reuse of paper. requires little or no cleaning to make new • Some paper manufacturers want to project paper. Mills use them primarily to make an image of being leaders in the recycling of graphic or office paper. The high grades con- paper. sist of unprinted discarded paper, trimmings from printers and converters, sheets and COLLECTED PAPER comes mainly from two scraps. sources; households and printing plants. The 2) De-inking grades are those from which the collection of paper at offices has also become ink is removed before the recycling process. more common. Office waste is mainly used to make new Collection from households is mainly car- graphic paper and hygienic paper, while ried out by private companies or in some newspapers and magazines are used for countries non-profit organizations such as the newsprint. scouts or sport teams who then sell it and 3) Kraft grades come from unbleached pack- earn money. House owners can also put waste aging materials such as paper sacks. They are paper in special bins in the neighbourhood used for new packaging material. that are owned either by the municipality or 4) Low grades consist of mixed , old private companies. corrugated containers and boards. These

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grades of waste paper are uneconomic to sort of the collected paper is an important com- due to the small quantities of each type, or plement to a finite amount of raw material. the excessive level of non-recyclable material. For example, the sorting and separate collec- These grades are used to produce packaging .. tion of packaging is relatively expensive and papers and boards. Most recovered paper is represents only 10% of the total flow of paper. produced of mixed paper.

IF THE DISTANCE of the is too far from collection locations, or if the quality of the collected paper is insufficient, incineration is economically sounder than recycling. Most

What goes where, recovered paper and end use Woodfree/ Old corrugated News/Magazines Office waste substitutes containers Mixed grades

Sorting

Deinking

Printing Newsprint &writing Tissue Corrugating

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CHAPTER 2 EXISTING LEGISLATION

2.1 WASTE MANAGEMENT of packaging waste in place for several years. THE EU WASTE MANAGEMENT DIRECTIVE Some countries have solved this through vol- 94/62/EC, Packaging and Packaging Waste, untary agreements between industry and gov- harmonizes national rules on the manage- ernment. In other countries a national law ment of packaging waste. exists. There are different targets for recovery, At the end of 2006, the Commission pre- recycling and incineration in various sented a report on the implementation of the European countries. In order to overcome the Packaging Directive and on the options for problem of varying terminology, CEN stan- increasing the prevention and reuse of pack- dards on recycling measurement were worked aging. Directive 2005/20/EC sets a later out. deadline for the ten new Member States (the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, 2.2 WASTE PREVENTION & Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, RECYCLING Slovakia) to meet the targets of the revised THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION proposed a Packaging Directive. Thematic Strategy on Waste Prevention and The Directive covers all types of packaging Recycling (December 2005), which sets up a (paper, board, plastic and metal) that is on the framework for a holistic review of the exist- market in the Community as well as all pack- ing EU waste policy, based on prevention aging waste. This is regardless whether it is and recycling. The Strategy shifts the focus used or released at industrial or commercial of existing EU waste policies from prevent- sites, in offices, shops, services or households ing pollution to a more comprehensive or in any other manner, despite the choice of approach. Some of its provisions have a material used. direct link with our subject: The Directive sets priorities. The first pri- • Prevention. Member states will be required ority is to prevent the production of waste. to develop waste prevention policies that Secondly, reuse of the packaging, thirdly recy- will "reach out to the individuals and busi- cling and other forms of recovering packaging nesses" responsible for waste generated in waste, and finally a reduction in the disposal the first place. These will have to be adopt- of such waste. The targets for recovery and ed within three years after the adoption of recycling of waste must be the revised waste framework directive. achieved according to a fixed plan and the • Recycling. EU-wide environmental stan- Directive needs to be revised every five years. dards on recycling will be adopted to "sup- The Directive requires member states to port the development of an EU market for ensure that 50 to 65% of all waste is recovered secondary (recycled) materials". from the waste stream and between 25 and 45% is recycled with a minimum of 15% of The document describes the EU Strategy, each type of material being recycled. but does however not prescribe any specific Many of the member states have already targets. had such systems for collecting and recovery

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CHAPTER 3 ECO CYCLE Carbondioxide 3.1 DISTURBANCE OF THE NATURAL ECO CYCLE Oil needs NATURAL LAWS GOVERN nature and humanity’s conditions for existence. In nature there are two main types of processes, one is slow and one is fast. Energy The slow process occurs in the heat and high pressure deep within the earth’s crust. During a time span covering millions of years, Woodfibre/energy small particles are compressed into oil, coal, Recycling iron, and copper ore etc. These resources are called finite since they are renewed very slow- Waste paper ly. The fast process takes place every second in green plants and is called photosynthesis. The green cells in a plant, driven by solar energy, Manufactures use water and carbon dioxide to create sugar. All the oxygen in the air around us has been created through this process. Resources, such as forests, farmland and pastures, are renew- Paper products able resources for humanity. Harvesting of forest resources should not exceed the re- plantation potential. Printbuyers Herbivores (plant eating animals), due to decomposition in their cells, partly use the The sun is the driving force behind the energy-rich compounds as nutriment and renewal of forests. In growing trees, water and partly all other substances like protein and fat, carbon dioxide are transformed into wood that have been generated in green plants. fibre with the help of the sun. The wood Carnivores (flesh-eating animals) get their fibres are used for production of timber prod- nutrition from secondary sources, namely ucts such as pulp and paper, as well as energy. from the animals they eat. When dead plants When the waste paper is burned or broken and animals decompose, water and carbon down, carbon dioxide is released. The trees to dioxide are released, and the chain is closed be reused in photosynthesis absorb carbon and can begin again. dioxide. When the forest is cultivated in a However, if the food chain is disturbed in sustainable way the process is ongoing. large areas of forest, such as rain forest, and 3.2 CLOSING THE ECO-CYCLE: impoverishes, the amount of oxygen decreases SUSTAINABLE FOREST and the amount of carbon dioxide increases. The resources, which are available to us MANAGEMENT under the earth’s crust, will be depleted. The THE FOREST IS A PLACE for people, animals earth’s population is continually increasing. and plants to co-exist. Biodiversity is what Today 20% of the earth’s population uses 80% makes our planet not only habitable but beau- of its resources. The remaining 80% of the tiful. We depend on the natural richness of population want better living conditions, our planet for the food, energy, wood, raw meaning further depletion of the earth’s materials, clean air and clean water which resources, something which the earth’s ecosys- make life possible and drive our economy. But tem will not be able to handle. Not only will we also look to our natural environment for our resources be depleted, but waste will also less tangible things such as aesthetic pleasure, take up parts of the earth that are needed for artistic inspiration and recreation. agriculture.

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The forest is also a place where trees and is a source of energy after use. The pulp and other plants grow naturally and, under proper paper industry are in a position to meet all management and control, provides a source of the demands of sustainable development fibres for future generations. The forest and within the forest, the production of pulp and forest-based products are renewable and the paper, and the use and recycling of pulp and fibres used in can be reused. paper products. Throughout Europe, forest management Pulp and paper are today produced in an has changed over the recent years to include environmentally adjusted process, which more environmental aspects. Under new effectively rescues potential emissions from forestry policies, the preservation of nature water and air. The emission of sulphur diox- has become as important as the production of ide to air has been reduced by 90% since 1970, wood. while emissions to water of oxygen-consum- ing materials has been reduced by 85% over Towards sustainable forestry the same period. The forest industry is doing considerable In some parts of the world intensive forest research and development to ensure that new harvesting could lead to shortages of the raw forest management methods are in harmony material. If forests were cut down without with the natural environment. The combina- replanting, soil erosion and desertification are tion of daily concerns for nature conservation, the natural consequences. adapted forest management and the planning According to Wikipedia, the consequences of ecological landscaping are producing posi- of the reduction of rain forest areas in recent tive results. decades can be described as follows: Tropical and temperate rain forests have been Large forest areas benefit from special care subjected to heavy logging and agricultural clear- for environment preservation ance throughout the 20th century, and the area In some European countries the forest covered by rainforests around the world is rapidly industry is involved in preservation pro- shrinking. Protection and regeneration of the grammes and has managed to combine ratio- rainforests is a key goal of many environmental nal forestry management with good nature charities and organizations. Another factor caus- conservation. Such programmes ensure the ing the loss of rainforest is expanding urban survival of rare plants and animals. areas. About half of the mature tropical rainforests, Nature values recreated between 750 to 800 million hectares of the origi- New forestry policies try not only to pre- nal 1.5 to 1.6 billion hectares that once graced the serve the nature values, but also to recreate an planet have already been felled. The devastation ideal environment, lost due to earlier poorly is already acute in South East Asia, the second of adapted human activities. Important goals the world's great biodiversity hot spots. Most of include increasing the share of deciduous what remains is in the Amazon basin, where the trees and old trees. More dead trees are now Amazon rainforest covered more than 600 mil- left untouched to provide habitats for many lion hectares, an area nearly two thirds the size of endangered species. From a time perspective the United States. The forests are being destroyed such work will need to stretch over several at an ever-quickening pace. Unless significant hundred years. measures are taken on a world-wide basis to pre- serve them, by 2030 there will only be 10% Environmental certification in forestry remaining with another 10% in a degraded con- The forest industry is collaborating with dition. 80% will have been lost and with them environmental organisations and other parties the natural diversity they contain will become to create a system of environmental certifica- extinct. tion in forestry. Paper is based on a natural resource which is renewable, recyclable and it

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European forests are generally recognised as 6) Environmental Impact well maintained. The annual rate of growth Forest management shall conserve biological exceeds harvesting by 193 million m_. It is a diversity and its associated values, water result of good forest management, care, har- resources, soils, and unique and fragile ecosys- vesting and reforestation. tems and landscapes, and, by so doing, main- Many forest companies are environmentally tain the ecological functions and the integrity certified according to ISO 14001 or EMAS, of the forest. and part of their environmental policy is often 7) Management Plan to act to maintain biodiversity and to manage A management plan -- appropriate to the their forests using ecologically sound meth- scale and intensity of the operations -- shall ods. The main systems used by forest compa- be written, implemented, and kept up to date. nies are the FSC-standard (Forest The long term objectives of management, and Stewardship Council), practising silviculture the means of achieving them, shall be clearly (the cultivation of the forest) and the standard stated. of Pan European Forest Certification. 8) Monitoring and Assessment FSC is an independent international mem- Monitoring shall be conducted -- appropriate bership organisation whose aim is to encour- to the scale and intensity of forest manage- age an adjusted environment and economical- ment -- to assess the condition of the forest, ly strong use of the world’s forest resources. yields of forest products, chain of custody, The international FSC organisation has management activities and their social and established an internationally valid accredita- environmental impacts. tion programme. 9) Maintenance of High Conservation Value FSC’s ten principles are: Forests 1) Compliance with Laws and FSC Principles Management activities in high conservation Forest management shall respect all applicable value forests shall maintain or enhance the laws of the country in which they occur, and attributes which define such forests. Decisions international treaties and agreements to regarding high conservation value forests shall which the country is a signatory, and comply always be considered in the context of a pre- with all FSC Principles and Criteria. cautionary approach. 2) Tenure and Use Rights and 10) Plantations Responsibilities Plantations shall be planned and managed in Long-term tenure and use rights to the land accordance with Principles and Criteria 1 - 9, and forest resources shall be clearly defined, and Principle 10 and its Criteria. While plan- documented and legally established. tations can provide an array of social and eco- 3) Indigenous Peoples' Rights The legal and customary rights of indigenous peoples to own, use and manage their lands, territories, and resources shall be recognised and respected. 4) Community Relations and Worker's Rights Forest management operations shall maintain or enhance the long-term social and econom- ic well-being of forest workers and local com- munities. 5) Benefits from the Forest Forest management operations shall encour- age the efficient use of the forest's multiple products and services to ensure economic via- bility and a wide range of environmental and social benefits.

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nomic benefits, and can contribute to satisfy- 3) Promotion of economically, viable, environ- ing the world's needs for forest products, they mentally appropriate and socially beneficial should complement the management of, management of forests. reduce pressures on, and promote the restora- 4) Involvement of independent third party tion and conservation of natural forests. audit. Forest owners in some European countries 5) Regional certification levels. initiated another certification system, PEFC (Pan-European Forest Certification). The most important differences between the two systems are: Objectives of Pan-European Forest • While FSC distributes the influence Certification: evenly between economic interests, the 1) A voluntary private sector initiative based environmental movement, and societal on sustainable forest management at the representatives, PEFC gives the right to national or regional level. The six criteria for the forest owner to decide on the cultiva- sustainable forest management are: tion of the forest. • Maintenance and appropriate enhance- • PEFC criteria for social and environmen- ment of forest resources and their contri- tal management are less stringent, e.g. log- bution to global carbon cycles. ging of original forests in Europe is per- • Maintenance of the heath and vitality mitted. forest eco-systems. • PEFC certification can be done centrally • Maintenance and encouragement of pro- for a large area. It cannot be guaranteed ductive functions of forests (wood and that concrete measures will be taken for non-wood). particular forest properties. • Maintenance, conservation and appropri- ate enhancement of biological diversity in Chain of Custody forest ecosystems. Growing customer and stakeholder • Maintenance and appropriate enhance- demands for assurance that wood, paper, and ment of protective functions in forest also building products come from forests that management. are responsibly managed, led to the develop- • Maintenance of other socio-economic ment of a new instrument referred to as a functions and conditions. “chain of custody” certification standard. 2) Strengthening and enhancing of the image The concept was developed among stake- of forestry and wood as renewable raw mate- holders, and some recognised accreditation rials. bodies were entrusted with the task to devel- op criteria ensuring that business actors have the systems and controls in place to meet their stated environmental objectives. These schemes can accommodate the com- bination of recycled waste paper and certified wood fibre, to help meet the overall objective of producing environmentally responsible paper products. Numerous printers through- out EU countries have engaged in such schemes and have the possibility to promote their use among customers. This certification involves inspection and auditing of the land from which the timber and originate and tracking it through all the steps of the production pro- cess until it reaches the end user. The certifi- cation is combined with a FSC or PEFC accreditation. 11 34IX05_Recyclingny 02-04-2008 14:46 Pagina 12

1) THE FOREST Washing Bleaching

Recovery

4) THE Paper Pulp

Wet end

Press

Dryer

5) THE PAPER MILL Reels

Sheets

Wet end Drying cylinders Coating

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3) THE WOOD YARD

2) TRANSPORTATION

Debarking drum Chips

Cooking

Recovery

Recovery Recovery

Customer terminal Customer

Heating plant 6) RECYCLING PAPER Offices Printers Shops Newspapers Energy etc. production ating Recycled paper

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CHAPTER 4 PAPER PRODUCTION

PAPER CONSISTS of randomly distributed Different types of recycled fibres fibres – normally – that are attached in A) Damaged paper a network. Various additives can be added, e.g. transportation such as adhesive, fillers and pigments. damaged paper, There are many types of paper. The charac- which has never been teristics of different papers depend on the raw used, or paper, materials, the treatment of raw materials, which was added substances and the end treatment of scrapped already the paper. The diverse paper qualities can be at the mill. used for many different purposes – from strong paper in, for example, grocery bags to B) Scrap trimmings, soft paper, like that found in kitchen tissue. end rolls and The primary material in the production of unprinted discarded paper is pulp, which consists of cellulose paper from fibres. The fibres are either fresh fibres from printing wood of the coniferous and deciduous trees or plants and convert- recycled fibres from collected paper. There are ers. two principal types of pulp, depending on method of the production: chemical or mechanical. C) Office paper, Mechanical pulp is produced primarily computer reams, books, from spruce wood and, during production, the and higher- fibres are liberated only through mechanical quality printed processing of the wood. In the production of materials. chemical pulp, cellulose fibres are extracted by boiling with chemical additives. The chemical pulp consists both of long-fibred pulp from coniferous trees and of short-fibred D) News papers, pulp from deciduous trees. maga- zines, Recycled paper is a type of paper that com- and cata- pletely or partially consists of recycled fibres. logues: These fibres can have very different origins Paper and therefore also very different characteris- recycled from households. tics when it comes to being a component in new paper. When producing graphic papers based on recycled fibres, the paper mill wants as high B) Scrap trimmings, end rolls and unprinted quality raw materials as possible. This discarded paper from printing plants and con- includes as little ink as possible to facilitate verters. de-inking, or preferably not having to de-ink C) Office paper, computer reams, books and at all. It also includes a large proportion of higher-quality printed materials. paper from chemical pulp, which produces D) Newspapers, magazines and catalogues as the strongest fibres. well as paper recycled from households. Fibres from groups A and B are called ‘pre- Recycled fibres can be divided into four consumer waste’, i.e. paper which is recycled groups: before print buyers use it. This type of recy- A) Damaged paper e.g. transportation dam- cled paper has been used for a long time to aged paper that has never been used, or paper replace fresh pulp, often without regarding it which was already scrapped at the mill. as recycled pulp. Fibres from groups C and D are called ‘post-consumer waste’ i.e. paper that

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To produce a ton of the various pulps requires: tissue and towel, they will not be recycled any Raw material Amount, tons One ton of a final product further time. Scrap paper cannot be remade Wood 1.1 Mechanical pulp into printing paper if it is turned into Wood 2 Chemical pulp newsprint or corrugated fibreboard. Recycled paper 1.1/1.4 Recycled fibre pulp Recovered paper cannot be recycled forever since fibres wear out. They can be recycled about 5–10 times. Recycled fibre pulp is differ- The recycability and the use of recycled fibres in making new paper ent from fresh fibre pulp in several ways. Some of the differences are: • filler/ash content • age of fibre (normally recycling of fibres is performed within three or four months after its production time) • the bonding ability • mix of fibres, content and origin • chemical additives from the original paper production and de-inking • contaminants. The weakest fibre is found in solid board, which is made from 100% mixed waste. It is not possible to make high quality writing paper from newsprint. The fibres do neither have the necessary optical nor physical prop- erties. Utilisation of used The recycling process for newspapers and has been used by print buyers before being paper and board in the magazines generates a process residue (cellu- recycled. This type of recycled paper used to production process. lose fibres, fillers, inks) of 10–20%. For tissue be landfilled or incinerated, leading thereby the residue is up to 50% of the raw material. to an environmental impact. Post-consumer Most of the process residue is often burned waste contains many different paper qualities. on site to produce steam and power. This is So apart from having to remove the ink, the only possible for big mills. Tissue mills will fibre itself is much weaker. It may contain have it incinerated at a cement mill for exam- contaminants, (which will be considered ple. Course rejects consisting of plastic wrap- later) and have to be excluded before the pers, staples, CDs etc. are landfilled. recycled paper can be reused. The finished pulp can be pumped from the The largest category (by production) of recy- pulp mill directly to a nearby paper mill and cled fibre pulps is corrugated/, fol- further to the papermaking machine. If not, lowed by printing and writing paper, newsprint the fibres are delivered to the paper mill and tissue/towel products. The overall recycled dried, as pulp-sheet in bale or as pumped content in these groups varies with tissue and pulp. towel paper containing the highest percentage of recycled material, and printing paper the 4.1 PULP PRODUCTION lowest. Graphic paper can be turned into virtually 4.1.1 MECHANICAL PULP any grade of paper, but it can accept very little THERE ARE TWO main methods for making fibre from other paper categories into its own mechanical pulp: grinding and refining. There production. The most resource-efficient are different varieties of the refining pulp: method is to use high grade scrap paper in thermomechanical (TMP) and chemother- graphic paper, where the fibres can be reused momechanical (CTMP). A mechanical pulp many times. If printing scraps are turned into consists of a mix of whole fibres and fibre

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result is an even lighter-coloured pulp with better strength characteristics. 4.1.2 CHEMICAL PULP CHEMICAL PULP is produced by first chop- ping the logs into wood chips, which are then cooked with chemicals under high pressure using one of two methods: the sulphate (kraft) or the sulphite process. The difference lies primarily in the cooking chemicals, which in the sulphite process is an acid and in the sulphate process is an alkali. In the cooking process, approximately half of the wood dis- solves in the boiling. This part is called black liquor and the other part is the pulp. The pulp is cleaned (the black liquor is separated out) before the bleaching process. A chemical pulp or paper is called wood- free. (In commercial practice a small percent- age of mechanical fibres is usually accepted) 4.1.3 PULP FROM RECYCLED PAPER QUALITIES SUCH AS newsprint, tissue and paperboard are the products primarily pro- duced using recycled paper as raw material. fragments of different sizes. Paper containing To best use the collected paper, it must first a high level of mechanical pulp and a smaller be sorted into different categories. The sort- level of chemical pulp is often called wood ing can take place either directly in the paper containing paper. The level of chemical pulp mill or at special sorting stations. How the in wood containing paper varies in different sorting takes place depends to a large extent countries. Mechanical pulp gives the paper a on how the collection of the paper takes yellowish/grey tone with high opacity and a place, which varies from country to country. very smooth surface. This is used for White unprinted paper from printers can, newsprint, magazines, and LWC-paper (light upon arrival at the mill, be dumped directly weight coated). into a pulper and diluted with water. This is a Grinding thoroughly soaked wood against a huge tank that liberates the paper fibres from rotating grindstone with water pouring over it the paperweb by agitation. produces the grinding pulp. During the In most cases bales or loose paper waste is mechanical treatment some fibres are torn transported to the pulper using conveyor apart. belts. The raw material is then transformed The refining pulp is produced by chopping into a pumpable state without destroying the up the wood raw material to wood chips, fibres. The pulp passes through a rough filter- which are then fed between two plates in a ing, where plastic, rope, string, etc. is refiner. If the wood chips are treated with removed. Thereafter the pulp passes through steam in a pre-heater under high pressure another filtering, where heavier particles, like before they are refined, it is called thermo- staples and stones, are removed, thereby mechanical pulp, which is light-coloured and diminishing the risk of damage in the pro- has longer fibres. A further development of cesses that follow. the thermo-mechanical pulp is CTMP pulp, Before printed paper, such as office waste in which the wood chips are impregnated and newspapers, can be processed into graph- with chemicals before the grinding. The end ical paper grades, the ink needs to be

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The wet section comprises the head box and the wire. The head box is a discharge box for the dilute paper stock and enables the stock to flow on to the wire section through narrow openings. The wire is a woven plastic mesh screen belt, which can be 35 metres removed. There are two main processes for long. As the paper stock flows from the head de-inking waste paper – washing and flota- box onto the wire the water drains through tion. the mesh leaving the fibres as a on top of In the washing process the waste paper is the mesh. The most substantial drainage of placed in a pulper with large quantities of the pulp takes place in the wire section. It is water and broken down to slurry. Staples and here the paper is formed and the fibres other undesirable material are removed by assume their direction. Most of the fibres line using centrifugal screens. Most of the water up in the direction of travel (called the grain containing the dispersed ink is drained or machine direction), which results in the through slots or screens that allow ink parti- paper having different formations and charac- cles through. The pulp does not pass through. teristics along and across the web. Because of Adhesive particles, known as ‘’, are the drainage method, the paper may also have removed by fine screening. different properties on the two sides of the In the flotation process the waste is made web. It may also be given a using into slurry and contaminants are removed. pressure from a dandy roll. Special surfactant chemicals are added to the The paper web leaves the wire section, slurry, which produces froth on the top of the where roughly 90% of the water has been pulp. Air is blown into the slurry. The ink removed, and is then led further into the adheres to the bubbles of air and rises to the press section. This consists of a number of surface. As the bubbles reach the top, a foam sets of heavy rollers through which the moist layer is formed that traps the ink. The foam is paper passes, like a mangle. More moisture is removed before the bubbles break so the ink squeezed out and drawn away by suction. does not go back into the pulp. Upon exiting the press section, the dryness When completed, the clean, useful fibre is level of the paper is such that further piped to a storage chest and consequently to mechanical drainage is often not possible. the papermaking machine, while the excess The paper then passes to the drier section, materials are skimmed off or dropped which consists of a number of steam-heated through centrifugal force into a sludge that is steel cylinders between which the paper pass- then burned for fuel, otherwise used or land- es. Synthetic dryer fabrics carry the web of filled. paper round the cylinders until the paper is dry. When producing fine paper, starch is 4.2 PULP PREPARATION applied to the paper surface to improve its DEPENDING ON the intended use, the pulp is strength and prevent loose particles from beaten or refined in different ways. The becoming detached during printing (linting). grinding creates increased binding character- The final drying of the paper takes place in istics. After the grinding, the pulp and the the after dryer. additives are mixed in very large chests. The final treatment of the paper, - Fillers and dyes are added. The end result, ing, takes place in the last section of the which is a very thin liquid with only about 0.5 papermaking machine. In this operation, the to 0.8% fibres, is called pulp/stock, and goes paper surface is smoothened, and the paper on to the . becomes smoother. Lastly, the paper is reeled up in large 4.3 PAPERMAKING machine rolls, which are then cut down into THE PAPERMAKING machine consists of the smaller rolls. This part of the process can also following parts: wet section, press section, take place in separate facilities after the paper dryer section, calendar and converting section. has been further treated.

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4.4 FINAL TREATMENT special quality, paper weight and size, and is THE CHARACTERISTICS and appearance of usually a large tonnage. Even the furnish or the paper can be supplemented and enhanced paper content could be unique. This order by further final treatment. is distributed directly from the paper mill to Paper with high quality demands regarding the customer. surface smoothness can be improved through • Stock in trade at the paper mill. This stock coating, which means that a layer of coating is includes standard quality, paper weight and applied to the paper, either directly in the size. It is distributed directly from the paper papermaking machine or in separate facilities. mill to the printer. To be able to buy paper Depending on the amount applied, there are like this the order has to be a minimum varieties of from pigmented to quantity. cast-coated. The coat consist of a mix of pig- • Wholesaler (merchant) order. In this case ments, extenders such as china clay or/and the printer buys from the qualities that the chalk, (PCC, precipitated CaCO3) and binders dealer has in the stock. The paper is dis- such as starch or latex. In addition, various tributed directly from the wholesaler to the chemicals are added to give the paper the printer. desired characteristics. The coating improves Other methods of purchasing and delivery the opacity, lightness, surface smoothness, lus- exist. tre, and colour-absorption ability of the paper. To make the distribution of paper more If one desires an even smoother paper sur- efficient this part of the chain is subject to face, this can be done through supercalender- continuous development. ing. This is done primarily for magazines and 4.6 HOW WILL THE PAPER coated papers. The paper passes through BE USED? rollers, which are alternately hard (steel) and THERE ARE MANY kinds of paper with a soft (cotton- or paper-covered). Through a wide variety of different characteristics. Thus, combination of heat, pressure and friction, the there are many different classifications of paper acquires a high lustre surface. The paper, depending on what the paper will be paper becomes somewhat compressed during used for, as well as what the characteristics of the calendar. The paper therefore becomes the paper are, for example, surface structure, thinner than its matt finished equivalent. surface weight, and type of pulp, such as: • Graphic paper – special paper – tissues – 4.5 STOCK IN TRADE packaging paper – board AND DISTRIBUTION • Mechanical paper – chemical paper (wood- AFTER THE PAPER has been made it has to free) – recycled paper be distributed to the publisher or printing • Uncoated – coated trade. Paper is stocked at the paper mill and • Finish, such as gloss – silk – matt – calen- some orders are distributed directly to the dered. printer, for example to newspaper printers. To know which paper is suitable it is Other printers buy paper from merchants or important to be acquainted with the different wholesalers, who may stock different paper- printing processes. Shortly they can be makers’ products and offer a local service. explained as follows: The wholesaler may be totally independent Offset printing is based on the different wet- from the paper mills, or owned or in some ting behaviours of the printing and nonprint- other way connected with the paper mills. ing areas of the printing form or plate, which Except in the case of very large orders, it is lie almost in the same plane. During printing, usually the wholesaler who sells the paper. the image area’s oliophilic surface accepts ‘oily’ There are three main principals to dis- printing ink while the hydrophilic non-image tribute the paper: areas reject ink. Before the inking of images • Production order. This involves the paper areas the printing plate is dampened with mill producing a paper for a customer to a water or a solution of water, isopropanol (or a

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wetting-promoting substitute) and further and is used for business forms, letterheads additives. etc. Relief printing which means a printing • Other office papers include document paper, method using a raised image e.g. letterpress envelope paper, sized paper, paper Flexography printing employs direct rotary and poster paper. printing using resilient relief plates such as rubber, or more likely photopolymers, and fast 2) Special paper includes for example com- drying solvent or waterbased inks. puter paper, continuous paper, , Gravure is an intaglio process, that is, the stamp paper, cigarette paper, etc. image is recessed into the surface of the plate 3) Tissues are various kinds of hygienic or the cylinder. In this process, the cylinder is papers, such as paper towels, toilet paper, and flooded with ink, and the surface scraped all kinds of tissues and napkins. In some cases clean to leave ink only in the recessed, images a additive is added to the pulp to areas. It is then printed on to fairly absorbent retain strength after moistening the sheet. substrates 4) Packaging paper is generally brown paper Screen printing: The ink is pressed trough a and is called . This is produced sheet mounted in a frame (so called stencil), from unbleached chemical cellulose. where the image is represented by openings in Belonging in this group are , the sheet. sack paper, bag paper, parcel wrappings, carri- er bags, and liner (the raw material for corru- GROUPS OF PAPER gated paper). 1) Graphic paper includes printing paper and 5) The limit between paper and board is usu- office paper used for writing, printing, and ally set at 170 g/m2. Higher are image production. normally referred to as board. It covers heavy 1a) Printing and writing paper is the largest duty materials from cheap paperboard and group. This paper can be used for offset pulp to paste boards and heavier strawboards, printing and relief methods of printing, such chipboards and millboards. Board can be both as flexography and letterpress, as well as for coated and uncoated. gravure if the paper has high surface strength • White lined chipboard is material used for and smoothness. Writing paper must be treat- making, made up of various layers. ed with size to prevent the ink from spread- The white side, which is made from ing excessively. Examples of printing papers bleached chemical wood pulp, goes in the are: outside of the carton and carries the print- • Newsprint, which is produced in large ing. The various grey layers are composed quantities. It is made mainly from wood of waste paper. White lined is containing fibre or recycled waste paper. used in the manufacture of for all This is used primarily for offset-printing. kinds of articles. • is used both in gravure and • Corrugated board: is made by a conversion in offset where drying is necessary. process in which three layers of paper or • Art paper is intended for the printing of paperboard are corrugated during the pro- illustrations in black and white or colour to cess. The outer layers (liners) are glued to give very high quality reproduction. the peaks, thus making a liner-fluting-liner sandwich. It is used to make corrugated 1b) Office paper includes for example: packaging cases. • Copy paper, which is a lightweight grade of • Packaging board: This must cut and score, good quality paper used for copying. The fold, bend or crease without splitting and sheet may be glazed or unglazed. must have good printability for the process • Bond is a high quality standard business being used. paper. It often carries a watermark. Available in a variety of colours as well as white. It is strong and long wearing paper,

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THE CONTENT smooth, flat surface for printing. Such paper 1) Wood containing paper is paper that con- is coated with different amounts of coating tains more than 10% (for Sweden) mechanical and may be divided into light coated, medium pulp. It contains , which means that the coated, high coated, and art papers. Art paper paper will yellow with age or fade in sunlight. is used for printed materials such as brochures Wood containing paper usually has good and art books. opacity and high bulk but less strength and • Cast coated paper gives the highest gloss sur- whiteness. This is used primarily for printed face of all coated papers and boards. It is materials with a short lifespan. used for labels, covers, cartons and cards. 2) Woodfree paper is paper that contains • Calendered or glossy paper is paper that has more than 90% (for Sweden) chemical pulp. gone through a calender process and can be The chemical pulp content requirement is both coated and uncoated. It is used for different from country to country and colour printing. depends upon legislation rules. The woodfree • Machine finished paper is a paper, which has paper is often bleached and has high white- been finished on the papermaking machine ness as well as good strength characteristics. and is smooth on both sides. It is used for This paper is used for most types of printed booklets and brochures. products. Since the lignin has been removed, • Lightweight coated is a thin, coated paper, the paper does not yellow. The opacity is nor- which can be as light as 40 g/m2. It is used mally lower than for mechanical paper. for magazines, brochures and catalogues. 3) Recycled paper is the raw material for • Matt finished paper has not passed through newsprint, SC-B and C grades packaging the supercalender and the surface is not paper and board. polished. The relative roughness of the paper surface prevents light from being THE TREATMENT reflected. Can be both coated and uncoated. 1) Uncoated paper is paper without coating It is used in all kinds of high quality print on the surface. This is used for letterheads, work and is suitable for colour printing. copy paper, or printing paper. Most types of • Machine coated is a paper that has the coat- uncoated paper are surface sized for strength. ing applied whilst it is still on the paper It is used in stationary and lower quality machine. It is used for all types of coloured leaflets and brochures. print. 2) Coated paper is paper which has been cov- • Silk- or silk matt finished papers are matt fin- ered with a suspension of, most of the time, ished coated qualities, where the surface is PCC, china clay, pigment and adhesive. smooth but without reflections, which Various blades and rollers ensure the removal means that these papers can combine high of surplus coating and impart a smooth sur- readability with high image quality. face. The coating levels the minute pits between the fibres in the base paper, giving a

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CHAPTER 5 ENERGY

ENERGY IS NEEDED to produce both new pulp. During production of DIP a sludge that paper and recycled paper, but much less ener- can be burned later is created; this corre- gy is needed to produce recycled pulp. As a sponds to approximately 0.3 MWh per ton of general rule, energy savings normally lie with- pulp. in the interval of 28%–70%. The actual sav- The type of energy used in the production ings depend on paper type, the production of recycled paper is mostly derived from fossil process of the paper mill, and transport dis- fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas. These can tances. Production of one ton of thermo be partially replaced by burning waste from mechanical pulp (TMP) normally requires the production process. Fresh fibre production between 1.4 to 2.7 MWh of electric energy, uses mostly bio fuel from the logging process, depending on which process is being used. Of like bark and wood waste, as well as chemicals the energy added in the production of TMP, from the production of pulp. The amount of about half is in many cases recycled as steam bio fuels used varies from country to country, per ton of pulp. In addition to this, burning of but can also vary from region to region within by-products such as bark gives approximately the same country, and also depending on the 0.4 MWh per ton of TMP in the form of type of pulp process used. steam. All paper cannot be collected for recycling. Production of a ton of recycled newsprint Some waste paper can be used for burning. DIP (De-inking process) needs approximately Paper is an energy-rich bio fuel. If the waste 0.8 MWh of electrical energy, but energy paper replaces fossil fuel the emissions to the consumption varies because of process steps environment are reduced. This applies espe- like de-inking and bleaching, which are nec- cially to carbon dioxide. essary in the production of recycled paper

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CHAPTER 6 LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT

Use of natural resources

Recycling Raw materials

Transports Impact on Processes Material environment and energy Transports Use of products

Transports Recycling Waste

A LCA (LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT) IS A 1) Goal and Scope Definition COMPREHENSIVE concept for different In the description of goals, the purpose of the methods to judge and describe the total envi- assessment is given, as well as a description of ronmental impact on a product, process or items included or not. material. The analysis contains the whole life cycle of the production process, or activity in 2) Inventory Analysis question, from the collection of raw materials, The inventory should be objective and based transportation, and production process to on facts. It should contain in- and outflows of product use, maintenance, recycling and waste materials and energy for various process flows management. A LCA never describes a single or partial steps of what is being studied. This product environmental impact. Several alter- phase includes calculations. For raw materials, natives that fulfil the same function are rather all steps should be included, from collection compared. and treatment during the refining stage to There have been quite a few LCAs made final product and emissions that have an for paper and printed products, and it is diffi- impact on the environment. cult to find an objective model. Most of the LCAs have been done at the request of one of 3) Impact Assessment the parts in the production chain. However, The impact assessment phase of an LCA most LCAs indicate the same features and should list and evaluate the results from the problems. inventory analysis in a more easily accessible A Life Cycle Assessment entails some overview. This phase can include, for example: unavoidable simplifications and limitations. • Classification (sorting of inventory parame- According to ISO 14040, a Life Cycle ters after potential impact on the environ- Assessment consists of the following phases: ment)

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• Characterisation (degree of impact on vari- electricity used in the process is being pro- ous environmental effects) duced, which source of energy the waste • Evaluation (weighting of various environ- paper is replacing, as well as which type of mental effects or inventory parameters paper is being produced by the waste paper. against each other) LCAs should be done separately for each paper quality. 4) Life cycle interpretation If the waste paper replaces wood fuel and Interpretation is the phase of LCA in which the electricity is produced in a coal power the findings from the inventory analysis and plant with high fossil fuel consumption the the impact assessment are joined together. It recycling of newspaper paper produces less is here that the comparison between different emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide alternatives is made. and sulphur dioxide. The transport distance The results from this interpretation are made has a certain influence, particularly with as conclusions or recommendations to deci- regard to emissions of nitrogen oxides. sion-makers. Newsprint produced from waste paper, col- lected close to the paper mill, has less influ- Different LCAs have been made about the ence on the environment than the same quan- benefits of recycled paper compared with tity of newspaper paper produced in other incineration of waste paper. The results can countries and imported. Production of fluting hardly be compared because the conditions and liner from recycled fibres is better for the and restrictions are different. Important fac- environment than the incineration of waste tors to consider in the different LCAs about paper. burning or recycling waste paper are how the

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CHAPTER 7 OPPORTUNITIES/BARRIERS FO

7.1 OPPORTUNITIES FOR DIFFERENT labelling, such as the Nordic Swan. The TARGET GROUPS: COMMERCIAL demand for environmentally friendly graphic VALUE IN CASE OF WASTE PAPER products so far has mainly come from pur- GOING INTO RECYCLING chasers of graphic products, (e.g. in Scandinavia) because their customers or read- 7.1.1 DO ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS ers have developed an environmental aware- HAVE A REAL COMMERCIAL VALUE? ness. In other countries, the demand is less strong and measures are taken by different TODAY ENVIRONMENTAL aspects have a authorities which have also enforced a certain real commercial value for all those involved in degree of environmental adaptation. the use of products printed on graphic paper, Environmental considerations for paper and from the customer and designer to the printer printed products do not differ substantially and finisher. The environmental aspects cover from those for other industrial products. Due the manufacturing process itself, just as much to (or rather thanks to) an environmental as the products produced. opinion among print buyers, users and pur- The level of awareness for the environment chasers, the paper and graphic industries, just depends on the role of actors in the graphic like other industries, have adapted their prod- production chain. Society as a whole ucts and production so that the environmen- attributes a high environmental responsibility tal impact is as little as possible. to the paper and graphic sectors, as illustrated Management philosophies place the envi- by the graph.Part of the commercial interest ronment high in the list of issues companies must address and the globalisation of markets contributes towards that need. Although multinational companies are primarily affect- ed, much of the train-of-thought can be car- ried over to smaller companies as well. The objective is that if a company makes a serious long-term commitment, among other things, to environmental issues, this will make a posi- tive contribution towards creating and devel- oping lasting relationships with both present and potential customers – lasting relation- ships that also create the prerequisites for sus- tainable profitability for the company. However, the influence of different types of environmental considerations on the prof- itability of a company is long-term and often Print-buyers difficult to measure. Nevertheless, under cer- tain conditions and in special situations, it can be absolutely essential to ensure continued derives from the principle that business may production and the generation of business. be lost if attention is not given to offer an For certain graphic companies and paper environmentally friendly product, e.g. the mills, however, an environmental awareness production of recycled paper, or printing on regarding the consumption of resources can it. The market for such products need the lead to increased profit through reducing interest of readers and purchasers, who should spoilage and waste of paper, as well as reduc- request that graphic products have as little ing quantities used. Therefore costs of basic negative effect on the environment as possi- commodities, such as IPA, are also reduced. ble. They must also have confirmation of a From a socio-economic perspective, the product’s environmental soundness by some handling of recycled paper has an intrinsic form of environmental certification or value. The fact that waste paper is collected

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RS FOR PAPER RECYCLING

Impact on level of recycling by different factors mum effect on the environment. Paper mills use different types of environmental certifica- High Cost of transport Price of tions and labelling in order to confirm the recycled fibre environmental aspects of their manufacturing Price Dirtiness of process. One example of environmental paper labelling of pulp and paper is the Nordic Swan and the EU Flower label for copying Lack of fibre Paperchoice by routine Environmental and graphic paper. consciousness Nowadays every area from forestry to pulp and paper manufacturing take the environ- ment and environmental aspects into consid- eration. Environmental requirements are developed through the interplay of interest Paperchoice by routine Lack of fibre groups, purchasers, customers, the authorities

Level of recycling Level and the manufacturers themselves. Environmental Certain paper mills base their production consciousness Cost of transport on the availability of recycled fibre from paper Price of paper recycling. The percentage of recycled fibre Dirtiness used depends on how the product is to be Price of used as well as the desired properties of the Low recycled fibre product. Low High 7.1.3 DO THE ENVIRONMENTAL and recycled decreases the amount of waste ASPECTS OF PAPER HAVE A that needs to be stored as landfill or incinerat- COMMERCIAL VALUE FOR ed. ADVERTISING AGENCIES? In estimating the worth of handling recy- cled paper, the costs of collection and trans- THE TASK OF AN ADVERTISING agency is to portation need to be taken into consideration. formulate a message, to choose the communi- The value of paper recycling will be influ- cation form, and to communicate the message enced by such factors as proximity and avail- to recipients. With an increasing environmen- ability of raw fibre, population size, the geo- tal awareness on the part of the recipients, graphic dispersion of users, as well as the total both the message as well as the form of the volume of paper returned for recycling. For a message will be influenced. A message can be country that has a small population spread reinforced by a conscious choice of paper and out over a large geographic area, the cost of the environmental considerations are very collection and transportation would be too important. Added value can be created for the high to consider recycling. client by creatively combining different The different impacts on the level of recy- aspects regarding the choice of paper. Paper cling are illustrated in the above figure. and its environmental aspects therefore have a commercial value for an agency. 7.1.2 DO ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES HAVE COMMERCIAL VALUE FOR 7.1.4 DO THE ENVIRONMENTAL PAPER PRODUCERS? ASPECTS OF PAPER HAVE THE ABILITY of a pulp and paper producer to A COMMERCIAL VALUE FOR be able to demonstrate that products are pro- THE PUBLISHER? duced with adequate consideration for the environment has a very large commercial PUBLISHERS HAVE a decisive influence on value. It has become a necessity for a compa- the choice of paper. By consciously placing ny to prove to its customers and purchasers demands on the final product, the publisher that its manufacturing process has a mini- can be instrumental in paying attention to

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environmental considerations in the Finishers and bookbinders can accumulate choice of paper. substantial amounts of waste paper in the Since the products of publishers are pre- form of cuttings. Calculations are often carried dominately consumer goods, environmental out in a routine fashion to reduce too generous awareness on their part influences consider- cutting margins. The same incentives for recy- ably the environmental consideration given a cling management that apply to printers also book. therefore apply to finishers and bookbinders. It has become common for books to be Thus, for printing companies the environ- environmentally marked and include a decla- mental aspects of paper offer the possibility of ration of the environmental properties of the increasing profits and, perhaps more impor- paper used in the book. tantly, the chance to decrease costs. Therefore publishers have been able to cre- ate a commercial value by taking into consid- 7.1.6 DO THE ENVIRONMENTAL eration the environmental aspects of the ASPECTS OF PAPER HAVE choice of paper. Since more and more paper A COMMERCIAL VALUE TO THOSE qualities meet certain types of criteria for WHO HANDLE RECOVERED PAPER? environmental marking, it has become more difficult however for publishers to create this THE ENVIRONMENTAL aspects of paper and added value. Thus, certain publishing compa- the management of recovered paper form part nies (magazine publishers) have proposed of the business concept for most paper recy- even more stringent requirements for the cling companies. Added value can be created environment. for mills using recycled papers by pre-sorting, effective transport, and rational stock man- 7.1.5 DO THE ENVIRONMENTAL agement. Sorting can either be done under ASPECTS OF PAPER HAVE their own management, by printing compa- A COMMERCIAL VALUE FOR nies or by consumers themselves. PRINTING COMPANIES AND 7.1.7 FACTS THAT INFLUENCE THE BOOKBINDERS? CHOICE OF PAPER PRINTING COMPANIES often partici- THE FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE the choice pate in choosing the paper on which of paper to be used can be divided into three something is to be printed. main categories. Firstly, one must consider Environmental consideration is one of the prerequisites for the target group of cus- the factors that influence the choice. tomers. How large is the group? What is the A conscious environmental effort to current circulation? What are the cost guide- influence the use of resources and thus lines, and does a budget exist? The prerequi- reduce the waste of paper in proof sheets can sites for the target group influence the idea lead to very good financial returns. That is and planning, text and illustrations as well as why some graphic companies have initiated a the design. These choices influence the reward system in order to decrease the amount method of printing, paper, method of finish- of paper and proof sheets that are wasted. ing and distribution, packaging, freight and Similar results can be attained via adequate postage as well as the possibility for follow-up routines for the sorting of paper and rational and effective measurements. stock management. The requirements for the target group By sorting printed waste paper from determine the prerequisites for the production unprinted, and white paper from coloured, a of the printed product. Examples of such printing company can obtain advantageous requirements are; appearance, strength, safety, contracts with recycling companies, i.e. better product longevity, ability to reproduce illus- reimbursement for its waste and recycled trations and photographs, legibility and gen- paper. The price level for recycled paper in eral requirements for quality, consideration for relation to new paper influences the incentive the environment, weight, format, and other of printing companies to sort and take care of special properties perhaps. waste paper and proof-sheets.

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The requirements include prepress as well impurities and contaminants can be removed as printing and finishing. The choice of fin- from the collected paper. For best use of recy- ishing influences the printing method to be cled paper, all contaminants have to be chosen as well as the printing press to be removed, but this is difficult. used. This, in turn, influences the workflow Contaminants reduce the efficiency of the and method for prepress. Finally, function, papermaking machine, increase energy con- quality and cost are always weighed against sumption, and lower paper quality. The vari- each other. It is also very common that a ous contaminants are considered differently compromise solution is found with regard to depending on the type of paper to be pro- the various requirements. duced. For the corrugated kraft and card- The figure below lists the factors that influ- board industries, the need to remove certain ence choice of paper and their relation to each contaminants in the recycled paper, such as other. ink residue, is not as high as when producing The figure does not try to include all the printing paper. factors, but rather the most important factors Contaminants come mainly from three dif- and their respective relationship. ferent sources: • Paper mills in the form of mineral fillers, 7.2. TECHNICAL BARRIERS: chemicals and polymers INTERFERENCE WITH • Conversion products, such as printing inks, THE RECOVERY PROCESS other chemicals, plastics and foils, adhe- sives, staples and pins Regardless of the type of paper to be pro- • Consumers and collection areas, such as duced from recycled paper, the quality and food residues, micro-organisms, gravel, and strength of the paper improve when more baling wire

Prerequisites of Requirements for Production Balance between target group final product requirements Function Quality Cost

Size/Circulation Prepress Contact Costs Printing Budget (including running ease) Finishing

APPEARANCE TEXT/LEGIBILITY REPRODUCTION STRENGTH ● Bulk ● Papers surface ● Choice of repro and ● Papers surface weight ● Stiffness ● Papers colour print ● Wear & Tear (erasabili- ● Same quality ● Papers opacity ● Surface of paper ty, shredding strength, back/front ● Whiteness of paper resistance to tearing) ● Coloured paper ● Opacity of paper ● Moisture, grease & heat ● Fringed paper ● Paper vs. ink resistance ● High gloss ● Fibre grain & foldability ● Stamps/embossing ● Watermarking GENERAL QUALITY REQUIREMENTS ● Varnishing and lami- Longevity nating ● Filings requirements Safety/Identification ● Document requirements ● Forgery protection Environmental properties Special properties ● Odourless ● Copying

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Contaminants increase in case of complex Stickies come from many different sources. compounded papers, printed products, pack- They arise primarily from various adhesives in aging, chemical additives, fillers, new paints, the waste paper. Primary stickies originate colouring agents, plastics, laminates, and from the adhesives in sticky tapes and labels, adhesives. Substances can be classified as self-seal envelopes and hot melt glues. non-recommended or objectionable materials. Another source of stickies is latex used in cer- The following list of materials in collected tain coating formulations for printing papers. papers has been put together by PIRA Secondary stickies can be created as a result International. of chemical compounds between various solu- ble substances in the waste paper or chemicals Non recommended materials Objectionable materials in the paper process. They come from, for example, water-soluble adhesives, waxes, var- Greaseproof papers Metals (excluding pins and staples) nishes, paper-coating binders, mineral salts, Synthetic adhesives String latex, coatings and printing inks. Pins and staples Glass Despite efforts to remove stickies, some of Tapes Textiles Wet Strength Wood them escape the mechanical cleaning and Synthetic inks Sand and building materials screening in the stock preparation. They end Laser prints Plastic laminates/plastic materials up on the paper machine or in the wire or in Carbon papers Synthetic papers the end products, causing machine downtime Waxed papers/boards or downgraded products. Rubbings Problems caused by stickies can be separat- ed into two large groups: Non-recommended materials can exist in 1) Quality problems. Variations in the quality the collected paper to a certain extent, of the product coming from holes, stains, depending on which type of paper it is des- reductions in mechanical surface strength, and tined to be a part of. These materials are negative effects during printing. The impor- often part of the different types of waste tance of the different products depends on paper intended for recycling. Objectionable the end product: materials are those which can cause serious • Coated board: problems in coating and print- damage in the production of paper, and ing should not be present in most types of paper • Multi-ply board: can cause discoloration in production. middle plies The use of recycled fibres rather than fresh • Printing paper, etc: stains that fibres has its disadvantages in the final paper reduce product quality product. The disadvantages are that it lessens 2) Process problems. Stickies have a negative the strength and smooth running of the paper effect on the efficiency of the papermaking web, causes linting, lessens the burst strength process. Most problems show up in the and the brightness of the finished product as papermaking machine and cause interrup- well as leads to variations in whiteness. tions, residue on the wire, felts, press rolls and dryers, and blades. This causes long periods of 7.2.1 STICKIES downtime, primarily because of cleaning and THERE IS NOT A SINGLE definition for the equipment replacement, which increases pro- term sticky; the concept is rather used for var- duction costs. ious types of contaminants that cause sticky Problems caused by stickies usually result residues. from factors like: Adhesive particles known as stickies cause • Increased use of waste paper problems in recycled paper plants since their • Decrease of applied grammages while presence in the papermaking machine introduced contaminants stay equal leads to interruptions and standstills when • Increased use of hot melt adhesives the machine has to be cleaned. The prob- • Increased use of self-adhesives lem is greatest for lightweight papers such • Increased use of synthetic polymers in as tissues and newsprint, which are pro- paper and cardboard coating duced at high speeds.

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• Higher machine speeds both in papermak- 7.2.4 DE-INKING ing machines and in printing presses THE ABILITY TO DE-INK a printed product • More closed water systems in pulp produc- depends on different factors: tion, which means increased amounts of • Ink type soluble materials in the water • Ink properties • Printing technique and printing conditions 7.2.2 GLUES • Aging of the print THE HOT MELT GLUES are products based • Paper surface on thermoplastic polymers; they do not con- On coated paper, the printing ink does not tain solvents, and are solid at ambient tem- come into contact with the paper fibre and no peratures. They have the property of soften- real problems occur in the de-inking process. ing as temperature increases, and hardening The paper coating disintegrates as the recov- when cooling. Once applied, they allow for ered paper is pulped. The ink particles are high production speed according to liberated as fragments. On uncoated paper, their cooling speed, which justifies the binding of the ink to the paper (the fibre) their use in packaging and binding. depends partly on paper characteristics such Depending on the thickness of the as surface rawness, fibre type, ash content etc. layer, the glue passes through the and partly on the type of drying that the ink screening stage and is found in the has gone through. Ink, which dries through pulping machine. This is responsible for polymerisation (particularly radiation drying), sticky deposits during drying and pressing of is more difficult to remove in the de-inking the pulp, causing interruptions and other process. Even oxidative drying offset inks, problems. which are old, can also reduce de-inking pos- Water-soluble glues cause problems when sibilities significantly. the process water is reused again and again, finally reaching too high a concentration of Influence of the printing processes and drying mechanisms glue in the reused water. There is a risk that on de-inkability (Borchardt 1995) this is spread to all parts of the papermaking Printing process Drying mechanisms De-inkability machine, which would then have to be Offset newspaper Absorption (and oxida- Good if not aged cleaned, causing interruptions. Letterpress tion) After ageing: Bad ink Self-adhesives are used for the peel- and Offset sheet fed Absorption and oxidation detachment, smeared stick variety of labels, stamps, post-it notes, Offset heat-set Absorption, evaporation pulp, specks tape etc. and do not require moisture to be and oxidation activated. Most paper recycling systems use water as Rotogravure Evaporation Good Possibility of coloured the medium to transform recovered paper pulp (dye) into pulp. Self-adhesives do not dissolve in water, but rather fragment into smaller parti- Flexo Evaporation For water-based cles during the repulping process. These Bad at alkaline pH adhesives are estimated to create costs for the recycling industry. Costs include the direct Laser and copiers Radiation curing Bad toner detachment costs for the paper mill and the reduction in U.V. and I.R. Strong speck contamina- tion prices received by recovered paper collectors and processors because of the contamination by self-adhesives. During pulp dispersing, ink particles are separated from the fibres. The ink particles 7.2.3 WAX are either removed through cleaning or flota- WAX IS USED AS coating material for many tion during the de-inking process or a combi- kinds of paper, cardboard and similar prod- nation of the two. During cleaning, particles ucts as protecting material with higher wet that are roughly 5–20 μm in size are removed, strength. Waxed materials cause the same whereas flotation works best for particles type of stickies as glues, and behave like hot between 20–150μm, depending on the melt glues. hydrophobicity of the used ink binder system.

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When the ink particles are larger than a cer- greyish. tain size, the possibility of removing them Paper mills, which often have to take care decreases. They then become too large to of water based flexographic inks which cling to the air bubbles. account for more than 5% of the total recycled The process of flotation de-inking can be mass, instead use cleaning to remove the ink divided into three steps: pigments. During cleaning of the recycled Collision between the particles and air fibres the fillers are removed as well, which bubbles results in significant loss of material. The air pressure decides the amount of air, It is now admitted that there are two sorts and the size of the air bubbles is decided by of water-based inks: one which cannot be de- the size of the holes through which the air inked properly, and another one which could passes. The small air bubbles and the ink par- be de-inked but which appears to offer very ticles enter into contact with each other, a low quality printing properties, and are there- surface-active substance. Air is generally fore not usable. Reports are available about induced by venturi valves (stream pump prin- unsuccessful tests carried out by large gravure ciple). The bubble size is dependent on sur- printing plants which were interested in using face energy of the pulp and the flow velocity them, but had to abandon the idea because of in the venturi. Ink, due to its hydrophobic the poor printing performance of the water character, is forced out of the water and onto based inks. the bubbles. Attachment of ink particles and air bubbles B) UV-CURED INKS AND VARNISHES How large the air-ink contact will be is Some paper mills do not want to accept waste decided by the amount of turbulence that is paper with UV-cured ink since it increases generated. This will be determined by the ink energy consumption in order to remove the binder system. Using a mineral oil the bond- ink from the fibre and the paper quality can ing will be high. Using a latex binder system also be lower. it will be low. UV-cured inks and varnishes are very hard Flotation of the ink particles and bubble and difficult to separate from the fibres. After complex to the surface. pulping it forms large flakes and dots. Most The air bubbles with ink particles float up of the flakes pass through almost all types of to the surface where they create foam that screen. Part of the dots can be removed by consists of printing ink, fragments of paper dispersing but the UV ink is so hard that fibre, fillers and coating pigments. The foam many of the dots remain, which can then is removed from the surface. Foam that is cre- cause specs in the paper. ated with small bubbles is more stable than foam created with large bubbles, and it will C) LASERPRINT not collapse during the removal process. Paper from copiers and laser printers contains ink known as toner, which is a dry, fine pow- A) WATER-BASED INK der. Toners are pigmented plastic polymers. The de-inking techniques described above are They contain low designed to remove solvent based, offset, and concentra- rotogravure ink. These ink types tend to cling tion of to the air bubbles during the flotation opera- additives tion. Water based ink contains a binding which agent that is dissolved in alkaline water. In gives them the de-inking process this ink does not break electrostat- up into ink fragments but into ink pigments, ic qualities. which are extremely small particles of less When the than 1μm in size. These particles are too small paper with the to cling to the air bubbles. toner passes through the high-temperature When the water is reused several times, one fixer part of the machine, the plastic polymers only needs a small amount of water based ink melt and fix the ink to the paper fibres. The in the waste paper for the pulp to become toner binds together several paper fibres,

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which then do not float or sink in the flota- overs still contain the toxic materials. In some tion process. They remain as dots in the cases the waste requires special handling. process and cause the same prob- The levels of heavy metals in recovered lems as UV-cured ink. By adding surfactants paper, and therefore in recycling mill wastes, at the flotation stage, flotation is improved. have dropped dramatically in recent years as a Toner-based recycled fibres are being dis- result of the decreasing use of these materials persed and treated, just as UV-printed fibres, in ordinary printing inks and pigments. in a post-flotation stage. 7.2.5 COLOURED PAPER D) INKJET INK COLOURED PAPER and its fibres are very dif- Inkjet ink is in many cases a water-based ink ficult to bleach. The paper fibre itself is solution. The colouring agents are completely coloured, and part of the colour can be soluble in water and cannot be separated in removed through bleaching. Most paper the flotation stage. Instead, the ink adheres to manufacturers refuse to accept waste clean paper fibres and discolours the paper. paper with too large an amount of coloured paper. A relatively small amount E) VEGETABLE-BASED INK of intensely coloured paper can Offset inks, which are based on vegetable oils, cause pulp to acquire a grey- become hard if they are exposed to heat and ish hue. Modern reductive sunlight. This complicates the separation of bleaching technology is ink from the paper fibre and causes able to accept over 15% of the pulp to have less coloured paper in the stock. brightness. This prob- However, only 5% of the total lem is worse during amount of paper used is coloured. the summer. Dispersing helps to 7.2.6 NON-PAPER COMPONENTS separate the ink from THERE IS AN INCREASING tendency today the fibres. The problem for printed advertising, magazines and news- is that conventional off- papers to contain special sections or various set inks can be types of materials that are glued to the print- pressed into the fibres ed product. Such materials can include lottery during the dispersing. scratch tickets, cosmetic samples in plastic or The pulp always con- metallic packages, CDs and other product tains a mix of different samples. types of ink, which Some of these materials can easily be sepa- means that it can be diffi- rated from the printed material before the cult to effectively disperse paper reaches the first separation stage of the this type of pulp. The recycling mill. Other materials, such as soft plastics, can of paper with vegetable based inks means loss cause severe problems in the papermaking of fibres and higher energy consumption. process. Smaller plastic items can create stickies, which will follow F) FLUORESCENT AND METALLIC INK along with the pulp and Fluorescent and metallic inks cause no prob- become sticky from the lems in the de-inking process, because they machine’s heat during the are rarely encountered in recovered paper. drying process. This can Technically they are very difficult to recycle. cause interruptions and These paints do, on the other hand, contain standstills. In conclusion non- pigments with various metallic compounds paper components should be that are more or less toxic. These metallic dimensioned and mechanically compounds end up as paper sludge after de- stable in such a way that they can inking. Most de-inking sludge ends up in be eliminated via punched screens. landfill sites. Some mills burn de-inking sludge, which eliminates volume, but the left-

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CHAPTER 8 OVERCOMING BARRIERS

ACTION TO BE TAKEN BY THE DIFFERENT TARGET GROUPS There are different actors in the chain from a concept to a printed product, and it could be illustrated as in the diagram: It is important for the different actors to know what the obstacles are, and if there are alternatives to using a printed product which makes recycling more difficult. What can the different actors do?

Advertising agencies and print-buyers If you have What problem does it cause? Consequences Are there any alternatives? Coloured paper Makes it more difficult to make Needs more sorting Suggest to the customer white paper Needs more chemicals ● White paper (bleaching agent) ● Tinted paper Soft plastics More waste More waste Suggest to the customer Needs more chemicals ● Do not use it or ● Place the product so that removal is made easier Hard plastics More waste Suggest to the customer Needs more sorting ● Do not use it ● Place the product so that removal is made easier Metal colours or fluorides The use of metal pigments has Waste with heavy metals will Suggest to the customer strongly decreased, and is limited probably have to be sorted ● Use colours with no heavy to aluminium out and is not reusable metal Lacquer/varnish Produces hard flakes of lacquer, Difficult to take away Use a clear water-based varnish UV or two components which are difficult to remove Needs more sorting from the pulp Needs more energy and/or chemicals Vegetable colours Gets hard with age Difficult to take away There are mineral based alterna- Needs more energy and/or tives but they have other en- chemicals vironmental consequences and health risks for employees Stickies The glue will become soft and It will adhere to the paper There are no simple solutions Hot melts get lumpy rollers but other alternative for binding Self adhesive materials and distribution could maybe be solutions

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Editor/publisher If you have What problem does it cause? Consequences Are there any alternatives? Coloured paper Makes it more difficult to make Needs more sorting Use white paper Needs more chemicals ● White paper (bleaching agent) ● Tinted paper Soft plastics More waste More waste ● Do not use it or Makes it more complicated to Needs more chemicals ● Place the product so that make fine paper removal is made easier There is an increased risk from bacteria Affects the washing water at the mill Gets ground into the paper pulp Hard plastics More waste ● Do not use it Needs more sorting ● Place the product so that removal is made easier Inserts/foreign materials Hard plastics More waste ● Do not use it Soft plastics Needs more sorting ● Place the product so that Glues removal is made easier Metal colours or The use of metal pigments has Waste with heavy metals will Suggest to the customer fluorescent strongly decreased, and is limited probably have to be sorted out ● Use colours with no heavy to aluminium and is not reusable metal Lacquer/varnish Produces hard flakes of lacquer, Difficult to take away Use a clear waterborne varnish. UV or two components which are difficult to remove Needs more sorting Develop glue which can handle from the pulp Needs more energy and/or the recovery process chemicals Vegetable colours Gets hard with age Difficult to take away There are mineral based alterna- It will need more energy and/or tives but they have other envi- chemicals ronmental consequences for the employees

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Printers If you have What problem does it cause? Consequences Are there any alternatives? Coloured paper Makes it more difficult to make In the printing company: Needs better sorting in the white paper Needs more sorting printing company Put pressure on the customer to use ● White paper ● Tinted paper Metal colours or The use of metal pigments has Waste with heavy metal will Use inks with no heavy metal Fluorescent strongly decreased, and is limited probably have to be sorted out In some cases, another printing to aluminium and not be reusable method with different inks could be used Better sorting Lacquer/varnish Produces hard flakes of lacquer, Difficult to take away Put pressure on the customers UV or two components which are difficult to remove Need mores energy and/or not to use varnish chemicals Use a clear waterborne varnish Better sorting Vegetable colours Gets hard with age Difficult to take away In some cases, another printing Needs more energy and/or method with different inks chemicals could be used There are mineral based alterna- tives but they have other envi- ronmental consequences and health risks for employees Stickies The glue will become soft and It will adhere to the paper ● Do not use self adhesive Hot melts get lumpy rollers labels for addresses Self adhesive materials ● Develop glue which can han- dle the recovery process ● Find alternative for binding ● Find alternative for distribu- tion

Bookbinders – finishers If you have What problem does it cause? Consequences Are there any alternatives? Metal colours or Introduces heavy metals into Waste with heavy metal will Use colours with no heavy Fluorescent the process probably have to be sorted out metals and not be reusable Lacquer/varnish Produces hard flakes of lacquer, Difficult to remove Use a clear waterborne varnish UV or two components which are difficult to remove Needs more energy and/or or more sorting chemicals Stickies The glue will become soft and It will adhere to the paper rollers ● Do not use self adhesive Hot melt glues get lumpy labels for addresses Self adhesive materials ● Develop glue which can han- dle the recovery process ● Find alternative for binding ● Find alternative for distribu- tion Laminating Behaves like soft plastic More waste For some printed products, use Introduces both plastics and Needs more energy and/or water based alternatives adhesive chemicals

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Collectors If you have What problem does it cause? Consequences Are there any alternatives? Coloured paper Affects the recycability More boxes to put paper in Have a better sorting and Stickies collecting system Inserts

Paper mill If you have What problem does it cause? Consequences Are there any alternatives? Coloured paper Affects the recyclebility More chemistry Only produce white paper or Stickies More energy painted/coloured paper Inserts Improve sorting/collecting Information to the employees Put pressure on the suppliers Improve the production process

Suppliers If you have What problem does it cause? Consequences Are there any alternatives? Better raw material Introduce alternative to the Better equipment to handle the market possible remaining problems Through the price of the product, support alternatives that have a good recyclability

Government/national agencies If you have What problem does it cause? Consequences Are there any alternatives? Support voluntary agreements Stimulate and put pressure on Which will make a better product If not prohibition or/and the whole chain and better collecting/sorting regulations Support different ways of giving information to the general pub- lic

Customers If you have What problem does it cause? Consequences Are there any alternatives? Apply pressure to change the Put pressure on the publisher and Put pressure on the printer and Better product in the end product the advertising company the bookbinder Sorting and collecting More sorting into more groups Better price for the recovered paper could result in a better price for the original product

Printbuyers If you have What problem does it cause? Consequences Are there any alternatives? Apply pressure to change Put pressure on the publisher and Put pressure on the printer and Better product in the end the product the advertising company the bookbinder

Sorting and collecting If you have What problem does it cause? Consequences Are there any alternatives? More sorting into more groups Better price for the recovered paper could result in a better price for the original product

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CHAPTER 9 DIFFERENT PRODUCTS AND THEIR IMPACT ON RECYCLING

The grade is from 1-5 where 1 is bad and 5 is good.

Product Good to recycle Alternatives Self adhesive labels 1 Burn instead of recycle Business forms 4–5 Carbon paper 1 Burn Cartons 5 Catalogues 5 Tinted paper 3 Burn or use in small quantities in the recycling process Coloured paper 3 Burn or use in small quantities in the recycling process Copy paper 4 Corrugated boards 5 Daily newspapers 5 Envelopes – self adhesive 3 Burn or use in small quantities in the recycling process Envelopes – water moistened 5 1 Burn if contaminated Food packaging 4–5 Label paper 5 Use in new cartons or corrugated board Laser-printed paper 4 Magazines 5 Paper packaging 5 1 Should be collected as special (hazardous) waste Plastic laminated products 2 Burn Postcards 5 Printed promotional material 5 Sack paper 5 Use in new cartons or corrugated board Sticky notes 1 Burn instead of recycle (used in some fax machines) 2 Burn Waxed paper/cartons 3–4 Wet strength paper 5 Use in new cartons or corrugated board Window envelopes 3 Burn or use in small quantities in the recycling process

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CHAPTER 10 SUMMARY

Interferences with the recovery process What are the obstacles?

DE-INKING Waterbased

Where are the problems? The ink does not separate using current technology. Will lead to a poorer paper quality. Water based inks do not attach to air bubbles in the flotation de-inking process. As the dissolved air flotation is not able to remove these inks they build up in the water stream at the paper mill. As the water is reused over and over again, only a small percentage of waste paper printed with water based inks will result in a very grey motley pulp.

How do we solve this problem? Information Change the process. Apart from flotation, washing can be used to remove the pigments. When washing the recovered fibres most of the filler and fines are also removed, resulting in excess stock loss. Still, the washing water has to be cleaned by a dissolved air flotation unit, creating the same problem as above. Use other chemicals.

UV – laser print

Where are the problems? They are hard but brittle, and adhere strongly to the paper sheet. It takes energy to loose them from the fibre.

UV curing inks

Where are the problems? Will not lead to a poorer paper quality but influences the paper production process UV-curing inks are very hard, and difficult to detach from waste paper. After pulping they form big flakes and specks. As the flakes are very flat they can pass almost any screen. Some of the specks are removed by the disperger, but some UV-inks are so hard that a lot of specks remain.

How do we solve this problem? Post-flotation, which needs a mill twice the size of a single loop flotation mill. Sort the paper more individually

Vegetable based ink

Where are the problems? Will not lead to a poorer paper quality but influences the paper production process. The vegetable oils become hard due to sunlight and the atmosphere. Compared with traditional offset inks,

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detachment from the fibres is poor. Most newsprint mills have for this reason in the summer (more sun) a lower brightness pulp than in winter.

How do we solve this problem? Dispersion should help to detach these inks from the fibres. The problem is that the traditional offset ink can be pressed into the fibres during dispersion (so a non- reversible brightness drop can be seen). Since the pulp is always a mixture of all types of ink it can be difficult to effectively disperse this type of pulp. So sorting this type of waste paper can be beneficial.

Metallic colours i.e. gold

Where are the problems? There are no problems removing them from paper. Only the sludge (heavy metals like copper and zinc) may be a problem

Stickies – glue – hot melt – others

Where are the problems? Will not lead to a poorer paper quality but influences the paper production process. Books and magazines are glued together using hot melts. These hot melts become soft and ductile in the pulp (like chewing gum). Because of this they can pass through very small slots and holes of the screens. On the paper machine they become sticky during the drying and press- ing, causing web breaks etc. The best binder is supposed to be non pulpable and not dissolvable (though the discussion on this subject is not yet over!). The problem of dissolvable hot melts is that they build up in the water stream, and as the water is reused again and again there is a moment that the concen- tration reaches a point where they become un-dissolvable. At this point the paper machine has to be cleaned causing a loss of production and process water.

How do we solve this problem? Sorting/classification. Other glues. Put pressure on the suppliers.

Are there any alternatives? Using other form of distribution instead of envelopes. Inkjet.

Grease- and waterproof papers (so called wet strength paper)

Where are the problems? Due to additives in the paper the water- and degreasing resistance is increased. In ‘normal’ paper the paper struc- ture is caused by hydrogen bounds. These bounds are easi- ly removed when the paper is wet. The additives in grease- and waterproof paper will substitute the hydrogen bonds and make the paper less sensitive to water.

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Coloured paper

Where are the problems? Remove colour from the process. Will lead to a poorer paper quality. Coloured paper is very hard to process into white grades. Depending on the colour intensity of the coloured paper only a small percentage can make the pulp grey.

How do we solve this problem? Reduce the quantity Sorting/classification. Though bleaching some of the colour can be removed. Relatively small amounts of highly coloured papers can spoil a complete production run

Fillers

Where are the problems? Will not lead to a poorer paper quality but influences the paper production process. Processing of this waste paper causes a very big amount of de-inking sludge (some mills produce the same amount of sludge as paper!). Heavily coated waste paper is not positive from economic and environmental viewpoints although the de-inking is not a real problem. The fillers (sometimes up to 30% of the waste paper) have to be removed, as they are detri- mental to the paper quality.

How do we solve this problem? At this time this is the normal practice for a paper mill with a flotation de-inking installation. Technically it is possible to use heavily coated recovered paper but an increase in fillers will lead to more stock loss.

Inserts /foreign material

Coloured paper. If not sorted out – see above.

Stickies. If not sorted out – see above.

Plastics and other soft material. Sorting/classification individually.

Hard plastic and other hard material Could be sorted out in the process. like CDs, golfballs.

Chemical product. Will come out in the process.

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CHAPTER 11 BIBLIOGRAPHY

• www.ciwmb.ca.gov/bizwaste. Pressure- att använda tidningar och tidskrifter till Sensitive Adhesives: A sticky recycling prob- materialåtervinning alternativt energiutvin- lem. ning. Januari 1999. • www.sharppro.com: Stickies. • Tuija Viilo, tekiska utvecklingsenheten, • EPA: National. Office Paper Recycling Helsingfors: Livscykelanalys för vissa pap- Project’s Office Paper Recyling Guide. persprodukter. Jämförelse Italien–Finland. • www.foe.co.uk/camps/indpoll/paper.htm: • Stefan Edman, Bo Thunberg: Folk&Miljö. Paper recycling: exposing the myths. • Arbetarskyddsnämnden: Kretslopp – ett • Miguel Matey, Papelera Peninsular, Spain: måste i framtiden. Recycling and recylability in the paper • Grafiska Yrkesnämnden: Papperslära. industry • Georg Flessa: Trycksaksboken. • M.A. Blanco, C.Negor and J. Tijero: Paper • Kaj Johansson, Peter Lundberg, Robert recycling: An introduction to problems and Ryberg: Grafisk Kokbok. their solutions. EUR 17775 EN. • Lennart Törnklev: Grafisk Tryckteknik. • CEPE/1999-12-03: Guide to an optimum • SCA Graphic Sundsvall AB: From Pulp to utilisation of recovered graphic paper. Final Paper. draft, revised. • Svenskt Pappers Pappersskola. • www.ekanobel.com: Recycling fiber chemi- • Sveriges Skogsförbund: Certifiering av skogs- cals. bruk. • www.conservatree.com. Susan Kinsella: • Skogsindustrierna Årsskrift 1994: Pappers- Environmentally Sound Paper Overview. återvinning – hur långt kan vi nå? October 1996. • Anders Thorén, Ingemar Croon, EKA Nobel • www.poyry.se: Deinking developments. 1995: Papper i kretslopp. • www.paperonline.org • Marie Wickman, Björn Johansson, Mikael • www.ppic.org.uk Sundin and Göran Ström, Institute for Surface • www.fsc-sverige.org/rod/fscsv.cfm: FSC in Chemistry, YKI Stockholm: AFR-Report 88. Sweden. Improved deinkability of Recycled • www.pefc.org Wastepaper. November 1995. • www.pneac.org/sheets/all/paper • Ken Patrick: Paper Recycling – strategies, • www.europen.be/issues/wastedirective1.htm. economics and technology. • Pulp and Paper Information Centre: Series 3 • The EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste – Recycling. Directive (94/62/EC). • Naturvårdsverket: Livscykelanalyser, LCA. • ERRA Symposium November 1999, Salvatore • Industriförbundet: LCA Produktutveckling Gabola: Towards a Sustainable Basis for the med miljöperspektiv. EU Packaging and Packaging Waste • ISO-standard 14040. Directive. • Aylesford Newsprint Limited: Life Cycle Personal contacts: Inventory Analysis and Impact Assessment • Swedish Paper: Christina Nordfeldt. – ‘Disposal’ options for used newspaper and • SCA Graphic Paper: Roine Morin. magazines. June 1998. • SCA Graphic Paper: Göran Svensson. • Gunnar Rutegård, Pressretur AB: • UPM Kymmene: Petri Ruusu. Konsekvensanalys i livscykelperspektiv av

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