الثلاثاء، 28 يناير 2014

The Advantages Of Using Secondary Fiber

مرسلة بواسطة Unknown في 4:31 ص
By Nelda Powers


Environmental concerns and consumer demand have increased the use of recycled products in recent years. In fact, a significant percentage of total paper production in the world is now based on secondary fiber. Technological advances have meant that consumers no longer have to settle for inferior quality and high prices when choosing to use these products.

The fibers for recycling come from different sources. For example, scrap and paper trimmings from the manufacture of paper is recycled internally inside paper mills. Post-consumer waste consisting of old corrugated containers, magazines, old newspapers, office paper and old telephone directories is collected, reduced to pulp and re-used for new products.

Using these recycled fibers rather than virgin pulp means that trees are saved, reducing the exploitation of old forests. Most of the energy used to turn wood into paper is used in the pulping. When recycled fibers are pulped less energy and water are required. Recycling of fibers also means that less waste requires disposal, thus reducing landfill volume.

Fibers for recycling have to be collected, stored, sorted and classified for various quality grades. They need to be processed in such a way as to eliminate any ink and contaminants. Recycling does cause a reduction in strength and length of fibers, so the number of times fibers can be recycled has a limit. Fibers are broken down into pulp which is then cleaned, de-inked and bleached before being used for new products.

The main obstacles to increasing the use of waste paper are technical in nature. For example, very fast printing machines require strength of fibers. De-inking and dealing with other contaminants has to be accomplished without compromising strength. The problems relating to de-inking are being dealt with successfully as technology improves. Experimentation with certain enzymes is proving very successful in solving many other problems.

New methods are being developed all the time for improving brightness and cleanliness of recycled fibers. The resulting products have comparable or, in some cases, better cleanliness, brightness, and other sheet properties than those made with virgin fibers. Apart from paper and paper board, there are many other products too that are successfully made from recycled fibers and offered at competitive prices.

The practice of using chlorine to bleach paper is decreasing. This is due to the fact that dioxin, a carcinogen, is produced as a byproduct. Bleaching procedures that produce less toxic emissions are being used by most mills. Chlorine-free bleaching is also possible and most recycled fibers are now bleached by using alternative agents.

Just about every paper company today produces some products with recycled content as the demand continues to rise. At present about 40 percent of the total paper production in the world is based on secondary fiber. Users of recycled products no longer have to compromise on quality. A wide variety of products are available with the required smoothness and brightness and are now available at competitive prices.




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