Wax Removal for Recycling Waxed OCC, 1997 Recycling Symposium Proceedings

Fibers derived from waxed Old Corrugated Containers (OCC) are a valuable raw material for recycling. However, wax-related problems such as reducing paper quality, increasing machine downtime, lowering paper-to-paper friction, etc. make waxed OCC less attractive for recycling. A solution to the above problems would increase potential recycling of waxed OCC as well as alleviate environmental concerns. In the paper industry, a number of techniques (including mechanical, thermal, and chemical treatments) have been employed to deal with wax contaminants in recycled fiber. This paper describes a new method for removing wax from waxed OCC by a chemically enhanced mechanical separation process. The process includes chemical treatment in the pulper to aggregate the wax particles followed by a stage of screening and/or reverse cleaning to remove the aggregated waxes from the stock. This method is especially effective for furnish containing 100% waxed occ.