Paper Recycling

Where does paper come from?

A. Forest trees
1. Virgin forest (Old growth forest) 2. Plantations
i. Mostly Pine is used ii. In Maryland Loblolly Pine plantations on the Eastern Shore

B. Recovered Paper

 Forests of the Eastern United States Southern Pine Central deciduous forest Northern Mixed

Forests vs Plantations
Trees are often referred to as trees a "renewable resource," Forests have a mix of types of trees, different ages, bushes, undergrowth, and snags. They also have wildlife, birds, amphibians and biological diversity

 Plantations: Predominantly in the Southern US (and Marylands Eastern Shore). Usually only one kind of tree is grown. Counting trees individually misses much of their value. Plantations are usually managed intensively, with heavy use of petrochemical inputs such as pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. They are monocultures.

There are four main categories of paper:

1. high grade printing and writing paper, 2. newsprint, 3. corrugated/paperboard (including packaging) and 4. tissue/towel products.

Recovered Paper

The largest category (by production) is corrugated/paperboard, which amounts to about half of all paper produced. The next largest category is printing and writing paper, which amounts to nearly 30% of total paper production. The balance is split between tissue (7%), newsprint (8%) and packaging papers (5%).

Recovered Paper
When recovered paper is collected for recycling, it is baled with similar kinds of paper and then shipped to a paper mill that can de-ink it or otherwise recycle it. Nearly a quarter of the recovered paper in the U.S. is shipped to Mexico, Canada, Asia and Europe rather than used in domestic mills.

Making Paper
1. Repulping and screening The pulper contains water and chemicals Chops the recovered paper into smaller pieces Heating breaks the paper further down into fibers The pulp is sent through screens which screen out bits of plastic and globs of glue.

2. Deinking
Removes ink and stickies (adhesives and glue) Washing removes small particles Flotation: air and soap-like chemicals called surfactants are injected into the pulp The surfactant causes the stickies to adhere to the air bubbles and float to the surface The inky air bubbles form a froth or foam and are skimmed off

De-inking
Processes for making pulp from trees were not developed until the mid-1800s, about the same time that the first patent was awarded for deinking wastepaper. While some have worried that deinking might turn out to be as environmentally damaging as virgin tree-pulping, it actually provides a positive solution to some of the problems created by virgin papermaking.

3. Refining, Bleaching, Color Stripping

Refining: pulp is beaten to make the fibers swell Bleaching is required for white paper
Hydrogen peroxide Chlorine dioxide (source of dioxins!)

For brown paper, no bleaching is required Color stripping chemicals remove any residual color from the paper

More on Chlorine
When chlorine is combined wood, it produces byproducts called chlorinated organic compounds, including dioxins. When released into water, dioxins do not break down. As early as 1985, EPA labeled dioxin "the most potent carcinogen ever tested in laboratory animals. When fish eat contaminated materials, the dioxin travels up the food chain, bioaccumulating in the fatty tissues of fish, sea birds and mammals. Therefore, even a minuscule amount in water can create a significant risk in humans and wildlife. Increasingly, research links dioxins to endocrine, reproductive, nervous and immune system damage.

4. Making Paper
Pulp is moved to the Headbox at the beginning of the paper machine, Where the proper mix of fibers is achieved before it is made into paper. The pulp runs out of the headbox as a slurry (a mix of fibers with approximately 97% water) onto the wire (a mesh screen that runs continuously above a trough). Much of the water drains out as the fiber catches onto the screen. As the fiber crosses the wire, it begins to take a wet, sheet-like form.

5. Drying
Next, the newlyforming paper goes through a series of dryers. At the end, it rolls onto a long reel, called a log (which weighs 3 to 5 tons).

Making Paper
After leaving the paper mill, paper is sent to a converter to be made into paper products. The converter cuts the rolls of paper into products such as sheets, envelope forms, and computer paper. Waste created by the converter is sent directly back to the mill. Specialty papers are coated with chemicals to improve printing etc.

Other Sources for Making Paper

The pulp for papermaking can be made from all sorts of organic materials.
Linen Cotton rags Straw Bamboo Hemp and grasses crops and crop residues are important sources, too, and continue to be in many parts of the world today.