Sustainability, Vol. 15, Pages 2850: Which Wastepaper Should Not Be Processed?

Sustainability, Vol. 15, Pages 2850: Which Wastepaper Should Not Be Processed?

Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su15042850

Authors: Edyta Małachowska Aneta Lipkiewicz Marcin Dubowik Piotr Przybysz

In the 21st century, numerous economic and environmental initiatives have significantly increased paper recycling, which continues to expand due to environmental awareness. With increasing recycling rate, low-quality paper fractions may be included in the process, leading to the overproduction of very low-value papers that cannot be reprocessed. Moreover, the production of paper from poor-quality wastepaper can result in the introduction of chemicals from the recycled paper into the recycling loop and unintended spread of chemical substances. Therefore, reliable and conscious selection of recycled pulp is imperative. To this end, the present study verified the properties of recycled pulp critical for the assessment of its papermaking ability for the production of high-quality sanitary paper. Following an examination of samples, it was found that the key parameters that influence the papermaking ability of wastepaper include presence of impurities, content of extractive substances, freeness, and length of fiber. On this basis, types of wastepaper that, at the very beginning, did not portend well for obtaining paper products with high potential for utility were eliminated.