Paper Recycling Process-How To Recycle Paper?

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Paper is one of the most important recyclable materials. What is paper recycling, and what is the importance of paper recycling has already been discussed here…” recycled paper”.

The whole paper recycling process can be divided into two basic stages. First one is pre-processing stage [involves collection, sorting and the transportation of the waste paper], while the other one is the processing stage [processing of junk paper to the final products].

Pre-processing stage

The pre-processing stage of paper recycling involves following steps:

• Collection & Transportation:

The paper is first collected and transported to the respective locations.

• Sorting:

The collected paper is then sorted out on the basis of types or grades of paper.

• Storage:

The paper is then stored in the warehouses for further processing.

Processing Stage:

The processing stages are the main stages involved in the recycling of used paper to the manufacturing of newer products. This processing stage involves:

• Pulping:

The stored paper is then moved by the conveyor belt to the “Pulper” – A big unit contains dissolving chemicals and water. Firstly, the paper is chopped into small pieces, then into tiny strands of cellulose because of heating. This mixture of water, chemicals and tiny strands of cellulose is termed as “Pulp”.

• Screening

The pulp from the pulper is then passed through screens of different sizes. The purpose of screening is to remove small contaminants [like glue, plastic, sand, etc] from the pulp.

• Cleaning

The screened pulp is then introduced into large cylinders [cone-shaped], which are set to rotation or spinning [same as sedimentation process], due to which the heavy contaminants such as staples are settled at the bottom of the cylinder, while the lighter contaminants are collected in the center of the cone.

• De-inking:

After cleaning, the pulp undergoes through a pulp laundering process, known as de-inking. Deinking will remove the printing ink and other sticking materials like glue, adhesives, etc. Usually a combination of two deinking processes is used. Washing helps in rinsing the smaller ink particle from pulp with the help of water, while the stickies and larger particles are removed with air bubbles in floating process.

• Refining:

During refining process, pulp is beaten to ensure the separation of large bundles of fibers into individual fibers.

• Bleaching & Color Striping:

The selection of bleaching and color striping process depends upon the type of paper to be made.

If the colored paper is to be produced, the, the color stripping process is used. The stripping chemicals help in removing the dyes from the paper.

Bleaching is used in case of white paper production. Paper is bleached with oxygen, chlorine dioxide or hydrogen peroxide.

For brown paper production, pulp is neither stripped, nor bleached.

• Paper Making

Finally, the clean pulp is ready to be processed as paper in the paper machine. Paper machine itself consists seven different sections, which are flow box, wire, presser, drier, size press, calendaring section and reeling up section.

The pulp can be used alone, or can be blended with newer material [virgin fiber] to add strength and smoothness to the paper. Rest of the recycled paper making process is same as that of the simple paper making process, which can be read here…”Paper Manufacturing”.

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Recycling Paper – What is Paper Recycling & Importance Of Recycled Paper

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Recycling is the process of producing new products or materials by reprocessing used materials. There are number of materials, which can be recycled to some other useful materials. Some of them are paper, plastic, cardboard, glass, metal [such as steel, aluminum etc]. More about Recycling can be studied here… “What is recycling”.

Paper is made from cellulose – A plant fiber which is derived from wood. This cellulose is converted to pulp first then this pulp is used for the manufacturing of paper. More about paper and paper manufacturing has been discussed in detail here… “Paper manufacturing”.

About one-third of the total solid waste generated around the globe is paper waste. If the world is able to recycle only 50% of the paper then millions of trees can be saved globally. Recycling paper not only saves the energy consumption, but it also helps in reducing the air pollution [caused by the burning of paper]. The complete paper recycling procedure is discussed here…”how to recycle paper”.

What Is Paper Recycling:

Paper is recycled by converting waste paper [thrown by the consumers after use] and scrap paper [wastage in industrial pre-production level] into new usable products. Certain categories of paper, which can be recycled, are:

• Mill broke – Scrape from the paper manufacturing processes such as trimmed papers, paper pulp, etc


• Pre-Consumer Waste - Material discarded before consumer usage.


• Post-Consumer Waste – Discarded material after consumer usage, such as newspaper, office paper, notebooks, etc

What Can Be Made From The Paper Recycling:

Usually the recycled paper made from the paper recycling is of low grade then that of the original material. E.g. the fine office paper sheets can be recycled to make the newspaper, etc.  Almost 80% of the recovered paper is recycled back to form the paper or other paper related products. Rest of the 20% recycled paper can be used for the production of other products, such as wall insulations, ceilings, fuel, roofing, paint filter, animal bedding, etc.

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Recyclable materials – What Can Be Recycled

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Recycling and the benefits of recycling have already been discussed in the previous post. Have a look here: What is recycling.

Materials Which Can Be Recycled:

All materials are not considered as good recyclable materials. The biodegradable materials like food items, organic wastes, etc are not considered as the recyclable materials. The materials, which can be picked, cleaned, and reprocessed into new materials are considered as the recyclable materials. The good recyclable materials are:

Municipal Solid Wastes

These municipal solid wastes (MSW) are the post-consumer solid wastes, generated by the domestic units, commercial units, institutions, hospitals, etc. MSWs are not easy to define; however, MSW is considered as the material waste generally (yard waste, papers, glass, metals, etc). Some of the MSW are described under:

o   Paper

Wasted papers are recycled into the new paper products by paper recycling. It is unfortunately a fact that the paper processing requires pulp, which is obtained by cutting down the trees, which is a threat to the environment. Using recycled papers can minimize the new paper requirements, and so are the wood requirements.

o   Glass

Unlike paper recycling, glass recycling needs extra concentration. The glass bottles and the other types of glass (like Pyrex, light bulbs, window glass, auto glass, etc) cannot be recycled together. As glass chemistry is based on its oxide components typically. The most likely recyclable glass is the clean glass.

o   Oil

Oil recycling might be newer for many people. “Oil” refers to variety of combustible liquids, which are not soluble in water and leave greasy stain. The used or contaminated oil (not consumed) can be considered as the recyclable material. Direct combustion of used oil as a burner fuel should always be condemned, because it not only destroys this valuable source, but also cause environmental pollution.

o   Plastic

Plastic recycling has turned a new shape today. There are lots of grades of plastics. And all the grades or types of plastics cannot be recycled together. A very small quantity of the wrong grade of the plastic can ruin the whole processing batch. It is generally not easy to separate different grades of the plastics. That’s why, there are several cryptic markers used in the plastic industries to indicate the type of the plastics.

o   ferrous metals

Recycling of the ferrous scrap is the principle recycling activity worldwide. The ferrous metals refer to the substances made up of iron or steel. Recycling of these ferrous metals gives number of environmental benefits as well including reduction in air pollution, water usage, landfill requirements, etc compared to the use of virgin materials.

o   Non ferrous metals

Non ferrous metals are any metal other than iron or iron alloys. Highly recycled non ferrous metals are copper, aluminum, lead and zinc.

o   Rubber

Rubber recycling is commonly known by the name of “tire recycling”. Used and damaged tires, which cannot longer be used on the roads, are one of the largest sources of the hazardous wastes. That’s why the tires are one the most recyclable materials. Rubber is a very resilient material, and can easily be reused in other products.

Waste Water Recycling

Waste water recycling refers to the process of removing suspended solids, impurities, Ph balancing, color treatments etc. There are various ways, in which waste water can be recycled. The selection of the treatment process depends upon the end use of the treated water. If the water is to be treated for the textile industrial usage, then there might be some of the treatment techniques involved like the sedimentation, filtration, color treatments etc. But, if water is being treated for human consumption, then number of additional processes like ultra-filtration, reverse osmosis, etc should be carried out. However, treated waste water is generally not used for the drinking purposes.

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Recyclable materials – What Can Be Recycled

Recycling and the benefits of recycling have already been discussed in the previous post. Have a look here: What is recycling. 

Recyclable Materials

What Materials Can Be Recycled:

All materials are not considered as good recyclable materials. The biodegradable materials like food items, organic wastes, etc are not considered as the recyclable materials. The materials, which can be picked, cleaned, and reprocessed into new materials, are considered as the recyclable materials. The good recyclable materials are:

   

   

Municipal Solid Wastes 

These municipal solid wastes (MSW) are the post-consumer solid wastes, generated by the domestic units, commercial units, institutions, hospitals, etc. MSWs are not easy to define; however, MSW is considered as the material waste generally (yard waste, papers, glass, metals, etc). Some of the MSW are described under:

o   Paper

Wasted papers are recycled into the new paper products by paper recycling. It is unfortunately a fact that the paper processing requires pulp, which is obtained by cutting down the trees, which is a threat to the environment. Using recycled papers can minimize the new paper requirements, and so are the wood requirements.

o   Glass

Unlike paper recycling, glass recycling needs extra concentration. The glass bottles and the other types of glass (like Pyrex, light bulbs, window glass, auto glass, etc) cannot be recycled together. As glass chemistry is based on its oxide components typically. The most likely recyclable glass is the clean glass.

o   Oil

Oil recycling might be newer for many people. “Oil” refers to variety of combustible liquids, which are not soluble in water and leave greasy stain. The used or contaminated oil (not consumed) can be considered as the recyclable material. Direct combustion of used oil as a burner fuel should always be condemned, because it not only destroys this valuable source, but also cause environmental pollution.

o   Plastic

Plastic recycling has turned a new shape today. There are lots of grades of plastics. And all the grades or types of plastics cannot be recycled together. A very small quantity of the wrong grade of the plastic can ruin the whole processing batch. It is generally not easy to separate different grades of the plastics. That’s why, there are several cryptic markers used in the plastic industries to indicate the type of the plastics.

o   ferrous metals

Recycling of the ferrous scrap is the principle recycling activity worldwide. The ferrous metals refer to the substances made up of iron or steel. Recycling of these ferrous metals gives number of environmental benefits as well including reduction in air pollution, water usage, landfill requirements, etc compared to the use of virgin materials.

o   Non ferrous metals

Non ferrous metals are any metal other than iron or iron alloys. Highly recycled non ferrous metals are copper, aluminum, lead and zinc.

o   Rubber

Rubber recycling is commonly known by the name of “tire recycling”. Used and damaged tires, which cannot longer be used on the roads, are one of the largest sources of the hazardous wastes. That’s why the tires are one the most recyclable materials. Rubber is a very resilient material, and can easily be reused in other products.

·    Waste Water Recycling

Waste water recycling refers to the process of removing suspended solids, impurities, Ph balancing, color treatments etc. There are various ways, in which waste water can be recycled. The selection of the treatment process depends upon the end use of the treated water. If the water is to be treated for the textile industrial usage, then there might be some of the treatment techniques involved like the sedimentation, filtration, color treatments etc. But, if water is being treated for human consumption, then number of additional processes like ultra-filtration, reverse osmosis, etc should be carried out. However, treated waste water is generally not used for the drinking purposes. 

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What Is Recycling And What Are The Benefits Of Recycling?

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The process of manufacturing or producing new, useful and marketable materials from the waste or the junk substances is known as recycling. It is an old aged process, and people have been recycling their household or business goods for thousands of years, to save materials and so is the cost. However, importance and benefits of recycling got noticed in the mid 1980’s on the industrial level. Recycling is not only beneficial for the household level, but also important for the nation’s economic dependence. Also, recycling shares a major part to save the environment.

Although, the trend of recycling is growing, but still there is need to educate a common person about the recycling, and that how a common person can become the active part of the society because of recycling. Recycling doesn’t require huge industrial setups, and can be done on a very small scale; making use of an empty coke tin is also recycling. However, it is important to know that what materials can be recycled. On large scale, Steel and paper industries are the biggest cost saving sectors because of recycling. The basic purpose of this post is to introduce recycling and discuss about the benefits of recycling.

Benefits Of Recycling:

There are numerous benefits of recycling, which can take long time to discuss. However, some of the key benefits of recycling are:

• The basic purpose of recycling is truly the main benefit too. Recycling turns waste materials into useful and valuable resources.


• It conserves the natural resources, like minerals, water, trees, etc.


• It reduces the need of incineration and land filling.


• It is helpful in preventing pollution, caused by in case of using virgin materials.


• Recycling decreases greenhouse emissions, and so is the global climate change.


•  Recycling saves energy.

Some Interesting Recycling Facts:

• A common person makes an average of 2 kg (around 4.7 pounds) daily.


• Every ton of aluminum cans recycling can conserve more than 1500 gallons of gasoline.


• Glass can be recycled again and again for many times. One glass bottle recycling can save up to 400-watt electricity (you can light a 100 watt bulb for 4 hours).


• For the production of 1 ton newspaper, approx 24 trees are needed. In case of recycling, these saved trees can absorb around 250 pounds of carbon dioxide, present in the air, annually.


• The cost of plastic recycling (especially the PET bottles) is almost half of the cost of plastic incineration.

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