Successful Approaches in Avoiding Stickies, 1997 Recycling Symposium Proceedings

Significant advances have been made, not only through research undertaken, but in the application of this research on a wide scale industrial level. Whereas stickies was a major problem in Europe just a few years ago, the mills which have actively participated in these programmes are no longer plagued by this phenomenon. Participation in this research by equipment manufacturers, the chemical supply industry, research organisations, and the paper manufacturers themselves, has lead to a rapid containment of stickies, and an ever increasing amount of recycled paper, particularly, mixed office waste, being used successfully.

This paper crosses over between research findings and the interpretation of such findings into the recycled mill environment. Of singular importance is the test method for stickies, without which, one could not determine the effects of any of the variables. Attention of this paper focuses on an overall deposition test, and a more specific test for the evaluation of microstickies. Further focus is directed at pulping variables, mill interpretation of pulping variables, and the extension of these variables into the mill process.