IMPACT OF RECOVERED PAPER QUALITY ON RECYCLED PULP PROPERTIES

1. The 14th International Symposium on Cellulose Chemistry and Technology, 8 – 10 September 2010, Iasi IMPACT OF RECOVERED PAPER QUALITY ON RECYCLED PULP PROPERTIES Elena Bobu, Florin Ciolacu, Raluca Nicu, Alina Iosip “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iasi

2. Study framework This research was performed in the frame of FP7 Project: Recovered PaperSortingwith Innovative Technologies - SORT ITProject number: 211 888 More information about SORT IT project can be found at: www.sortit.eu

3. Presentation online Background Limits of paper recycling Recovered paper (RP) from household collection Experimental Research objectives Experimental tasks Results and Discussions Impacts of packaging paper content in deinking RP grade Impacts of graphic papers content in packaging RP grade Conclusions

4. Limits of P&B Recycling Maximum theoretical limit of P&B recycling rate- 81% 19 % of paper products are not collectable or recyclable for technical reasons.(CEPI study - Non-collectable and non-recyclable paper products, May 2003) Maximum practical limit of P & B recycling rate - 75% ▪Part of recyclable paper may not be available for collection/recycling because of alternative uses. ▪RP of some marginal sources cannot normally collected because of the presence of contaminants, the elimination of which cannot be made in an efficient manner. (Grossman H., Scenarios for the development of manufacturing industries in Europe with special emphasis on P&B recycling,COST E48 Final Conference, Munich, May 2009)

5. Maximum Recycling Rate - Limiting Factors The increase of P & B recycling ratefrom 66% to 75%will be progressively more difficult because: ● Developed countries are at / or very close to the maximum recycling limit (72 - 74%) ● Recovered paper quality is deteriorating as the collection rate continues to increase. ● Quality demands on the finished paper continue to increase - development in the publishing and converting industries ●Easy-to-exploit and higher quality RP sources are tapped and the increase in recycling is expecting from small sources, with high spreading and contamination.

6. Potential for Recycling Rate Increase The routes of paper and board consumed in CEPI Countries (Source: 2008 Annual Statistics, www.cepi.org)

7. Potential for Recycling Rate Increase Further increase of RP supply for paper mills: ● Reducing other recovery and final disposal by improvinghouseholds collection Revised Waste Directive created the good framework for making this happen by setting an obligation to collect recyclables separately and by prioritizing recycling over incineration. ● Introducing eco-design principles in manufacturing packaging or printed products – in order to keep the paper recyclable Deinkability scorecard Phase-out of Di-isobutylphthalate (Jori Ringman, SORT IT Newsletter 2, February 2010; A. Faul, Cell.Chem.Tech. Special issue COST E48, in press 2010)

8. Recovered Paper Quality EN 643 defines the quality of recovered paper by: • Moisture content→ < 10% • Prohibited materials → not permitted at all • Unwanted material: • - non-paper components • - paper and board detrimental to production • - paper and board not according to grade definition • Tolerance levels are not provided by EN 643, but are provided • by grade specification in the agreement beneficiary–supplier.

9. Household Collection-RP Quality Main products of household separate collection are mixed recovered paper grades -1.01 and 1.02. It is demonstrated that an extended collection from household is always detrimental to RP quality In The Netherlands: unwanted materials content(non-paper and p & b detrimental to production)rose from 3.3% in 2004 to 3.9% in 2007.(B. Stawicki, PhD Thesis 2009) Mixed grades (1.01and 1.02) are containing > 50% graphic papersand > 30% packaging p&b and are sorting to produce: ● Grade1.11 – mixed graphic papers for deinking, without brown / grey packaging paper and board. ● Grade 1.04 – mixed packaging paper & board, without graphic paper content.

10. Quality Trends of EN 643 Grade 1.11 ● EN 643 description:- sorted graphic paper from households; - newspapers and magazines, each at a minimum of 40%; - the percentage of non-deinkable paper and board is negotiated between buyer and seller. ● Increasing content of unwanted material → from about 6% in 2006 to about 8% in 2008 ● Unwanted material consists mainly of non-deinkable p&b ● Non-deinkable p&b consists mainly of the grey / brown paper and board (> 80%) ● The age of printed products varies from 4 to 12 months, though most common limit is 6 months. (Sources: “Determination of the composition in materials and the moisture of the recovered paper and board” Study of REPACAR and ASPAPEL, 2008.,in Spanish; Sabine Weinert, Recovered Paper Quality, Ingede Symposium, February 2010)

11. Quality Trends of EN 643 Grade 1.04 ● EN 643 description:used paper and board packaging, containing a minimum of 70% corrugated board, the rest being solid board. • ● Increasing content of graphic papers, 23 - 27% • ●Graphic papers consist mainly of newspapers and • magazines, but also of some office papers, which lead to: • - high content of mineral fillers (ash) • - high content of short fibres • ● Increasing content of non-paper components,mainly • plastic materials • (Sources: K.Blasius; L. Tempel, “Future utilisation of RP-components depending on collection system, • SORT IT Report 4.2, Part 1)

12. Research Objectives General objective: To assess the effects of unwanted paper and board content on recycled pulp properties obtained of recovered paper grades generated by sorting mixed grades of household collection. Derived objectives: ● The influence of packaging paper content in RP grade 1.11 on the properties of deinked pulp for newsprint paper production. ● The influence of graphic papers content in RP grade 1.04 on the properties of recycled pulp for packaging paper production.

13. Experimental tasks

14. Packaging P&B Content in RP Grade 1.11 Impact on deinked pulp brightness: Grade 1.11: News : Magazine = 50:50 Packaging p&b: Brown lined OCC : Printed white lined OCC = 50:50 Packaging p&b not only reduce the brightness due unbleached fibres, but also impair the separation and removal of the ink→ proved by brightness decrease before flotation (UP)

15. Packaging P&B Content in RP Grade 1.11 Impact on deinked pulp brightness: Comparative data of two different laboratories (UT Iasi, YU Darmstadt) using different compositions of packaging paper and board RP grade 1.11: News & Magazine = 50:50 Packaging p&b: ■Brown lined OCC : Printed white lined OCC = 50:50 ■ Brown kraftliner OCC–100% This comparison shows that such experiments are reproducible and used method (Ingede 11) is a good tool to evaluate the deinkability of RP.

16. DIP of RP without packaging p&b DIP of RP with 15% packaging p&b Packaging P&B Content in RP Grade 1.11 Impact on visual aspect of deinked pulp (DIP) • Bad visual aspect: flaks, specks, marbled paper

17. Graphic Paper Content in RP Grade 1.04 Impact on refining degree and short fibre fraction of recycled pulp: ● Increasing of the refining degree with the graphic paper content in RP grade 1.04 is not the effect of a refining process, it is the result of the fine material content increase. ● Consequently, increase of the graphic paper content will negatively impact drainage and first pass retention.

18. Graphic Paper Content in RP Grade 1.04 Impact on ash content and breaking length of recycled paper ● Ash content increases of about 1% and breaking length decreases with about 100 m for each 5% of the graphic paper in the packaging RP 1.04. ● Paper strength decrease is mainly due to ash increase since, 100 m breaking length decrease per 1% ash content corresponds to a common relationship between strength and ash content.

19. CONCLUSIONS Impact of packaging p&b content in deinking RP grade 1.11 The content of packaging paper and board in deinking recovered paper affects strongly the optical properties of deinked pulp, by decreasing brightness and increasing the number and size of specks due to brown fibres flakes. To obtain a product of constant brightness from RP containing packaging p&b, papermakers are constrained to increase the dosage of bleaching agents or to use a second bleaching stage for the deinked pulp. However, if the content is too high none of these solutions could achieve the requested DIP brightness and thus, the produced paper could be down-graded.

20. CONCLUSIONS Impact of graphic paper content in packaging RP grade 1.04 The content of graphic paper in packaging RP grades lead to recycled pulp with lower freeness that is not due to fibre refining, but to the increased fine material content - short fibres and filler, originated in graphic paper, which result in: low drainage rate, bad first pass retention on the forming wire and productivity decrease, respectively. Increasing ash and short fibre content result in a strong reduction of the mechanical strength of recycled pulp, which will lead to: higher consumption of strength additives in order to achieve mechanical strength requested by paper product specification.

21. Research Need? An advanced automate sorting system to improve the quality and recycling rate The innovative sorting technology developed in SORT IT Project will meet this need !

22. Acknowledgments The EC is acknowledged for funding SORT IT project from the European Community's FP7 Programme [ENV.2007.3.1.3.2.] under Grant Agreement n° 211888.

23. Contact information: ELENA BOBU “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iasi Dimitrie Mangeron No. 71 Iasi, RO- 700050 elbo@ch.tuiasi.ro THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!