Waste management from pulp and paper production in the European Union

Abstract

Eleven million tonnes of waste are produced yearly by the European pulp and paper industry, of which 70% originates from the production of deinked recycled paper.Wastes are very diverse in composition and consist of rejects, different types of sludges and ashes in mills having on-site incineration treatment. The production of pulp and paper from virgin pulp generates less waste but the waste has similar properties to waste from the production of deinked pulp, although with less inorganics. Due to legislation and increased taxes, landfills are quickly being eliminated as a final destination for wastes in Europe, and incineration with energy recovery is becoming the main waste recovery method. Other options such as pyrolysis, gasification, land spreading, composting and reuse as building material are being applied, although research is still needed for optimization of the processes. Due to the large volumes of waste generated, the high moisture content of the waste and the changing waste composition as a result of process conditions, recovery methods are usually expensive and their environmental impact is still uncertain. For this reason, it is necessary to continue research on different applications of wastes, while taking into account the environmental and economical factors of these waste treatments.

Wastewater Treatment and Reclamation: A Review of Pulp and Paper Industry Practices and Opportunities

“…The past challenges during the clarification of de-inking waters generally have been solved, and these days it is possible to treat and reuse the effluents by membrane procedures, although silicic ions have to be removed to increase the recovery in reverse osmosis (RO) units (Ordóñez et al 2011). Though the focus here is on the water-borne pollutants, it is important to bear in mind that a deinking process can result in the generation of large amounts of solid wastes; it has been estimated that about 70% of solid wastes, mainly in the form of sludge, are generated by de-inking operations (Monte et al 2009). …”

Valorization of Waste Streams from Deinked Pulp Mills through Anaerobic Digestion of Deinking Sludge

“…Generally, up to 40% by weight of the original PfR can end up as process reject, with the exact percentage depending on the type of paper produced (Bajpai 2013). DS primarily consists of inorganic mineral fillers, short cellulosic fibers and fines, coatings, ink particles, extractive substances, and deinking additives (Monte et al 2009).…”

Comparison of solids in effluent from pulping kenaf stem with formic acid and sodium hydroxide

“…The significant solid wastes such as lime mud, lime slaker grits, green liquor dregs, boiler and furnace ash, scrubber sludges, wood processing residuals and wastewater treatment sludges are generated from different mills. Disposal of these solid wastes cause environmental problems because of high organic content, partitioning of chlorinated organics, pathogens, ash and trace amount of heavy metal content (Monte et al, 2009).…”