Bear Island Start-Up of a Technically Advanced Newsprint Recycled Fiber Facility, 1994 Pulping Conference Proceedings

R. A. Ellis, P. S. Kotila

Bear Island Paper Company, LP of Ashland, Virginia started a 150 ton per day recycling facility in April of 1994. The $36.4 million facility, that meets and exceeds all expectations, processes over 70,000 tons per year of waste paper using advanced technology for producing recycled fiber pulp for newsprint.

Waste paper, in the form of old newspaper (ONP) and old magazines (OMG), is received, stored, and mixed in the 50,000 square foot warehouse. A conveyor transfers the wastepaper to the process building where the process starts with the continuous drum pulper. Coarse contaminants are removed in high-consistency cleaners and pressure screens before the first flotation stage.

The subsequent forward cleaning, fine slotted screening, and light reject cleaning remove small contaminants. Post flotation and washing remove chemical and printing ink residuals. Washers filtrates are handled in the dissolved air clarifier and recirculated in the process. Sludge is combined with TMP sludge, dewatered, and burned.

The paper machine, using recycled fiber and TMP, has experienced positive results.

This paper provides information from the first three months of operation of the Bear Island facility.