Recycling of Mixed Office Waste, 1995 Recycling Symposium Proceedings

G. Rangamannar

Beloit Research Center

Thomas G. Newton

Beloit Research Center

The consumption of mixed office waste (MOW) at deinking plants is increasing. The quality and cleanliness of MOW, depending on how it is collected, may be lower than that of traditional ledger furnish used by the industry. High amounts of colored papers, mechanical fibers, coated and non- impact printed papers are reclaimed and sold as MOW.

This paper analyzes various unit operations available to deink mixed office waste furnish. The nature of contaminants in MOW controls the system design and operational parameters of a deinked pulp (DIP) plant. Several large scale pilot plant trials were conducted with MOW to determine the role of equipment and processes to produce high quality deinked pulps. Aggressive washers, multi-zone forward cleaners and system color control approaches are identified as key operations required to produce uniform quality recycled pulps from today’s MOW furnish.