Recycled Board
Globally, over 394 million tonnes of paper is produced each year. Of that, 207 million tonnes is collected for recycling, significantly decreasing the amount of paper that would ordinarily end up in landfill. Recycling paper dramatically reduces the demand for timber that would otherwise be solely used to produce paper and board. In addition to this when manufacturing paper from recycled content, 35% less water is used and 74% less air is polluted during the manufacturing process.
The steps that are involved during the recycling process are as follows:
- Sorting - Paper is sorted into three grades; white paper, newspaper and coloured paper.
- Re-pulping and Screening - Paper is mixed with water and chemicals that breakdown the paper into pulp.
- Cleaning - Heavy contaminants are removed e.g. staples etc
- De-Inking - Coloured paper is washed in chemicals that remove the ink from the pulp. If the paper is to be manufactured into white paper it is further bleached.
- Paper making: The recycled paper is mixed with virgin fibre and mixed with large volumes of water. This mixture is sprayed onto a huge flat white screen where the water can drain from the pulp. The screen is moved through a series of rollers and heaters, which press and dry the paper. Once the paper is dry, it is wound onto giant rollers and stored until required.
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