Manufacture of Value-Added Products from Mixed Paper Waste, 1993 Recycling Symposium Proceedings

Myron J. Schmenk, Allan M. Springer

Approximately 35-40 million U.S.tons of mixed paper waste are landfilled each year. At this time, there are dim prospects for using this mixed waste as an energy source or for recycling this waste in traditional paper products without expensive sorting. However, as indicated in this paper, there is a tremendous potential to successfully utilize mixed paper waste for the manufacture of durable value-added products.

At Miami University, we are currently investigating the manufacture of ECOBLOCKS. These 50-mm thick ECOBLOCKS are wet-formed from mixed paper waste and rapidly press dried.

They are strong, rigid components which appear to be well suited for construction purposes. In the development of the ECOBLOCK, we investigated both dry and wet processing methods. The wet approach yields a strong, uniform product which utilizes natural bonding.

The wet processing of the ECOBLOCK utilizes technology that is

similar to the technology used in the paper industry. With the support of the paper industry, value-added products,

it appears that the development of

realistic, such as the ECOBLOCK, represents a cost effective approach to significantly improve our environment.